Natalie Portman returns to the big screen this month with the release of Lucy in the Sky, a domestic thriller based on the life of astronaut Lisa Nowak and the true story of what happened to her after she returned home to earth.
Starring alongside Jon Hamm, Dan Stevens and more, Portman’s role as the NASA captain has drawn a lot of attention online thanks to the true story of Nowak that inspired it - including a very strange debate over a diaper.
The story of Nowak is being brought to life by director Noah Hawley, the showrunner behind television programmes including Fargo and Legion.
Who is Lisa Nowak?
Lisa Nowak is the real woman Portman’s character Lucy Cola is based on. Nowak was a NASA astronaut and former navy captain, who went to space in 2006 on shuttle Discovery. Nowak, who at this point was married to a classmate from her naval academy days called Richard Nowak and had three children with him, later began to have an affair with a fellow astronaut named William Oefelein in 2004.
Although Oefelein and Nowak did not go on the 2006 mission they did train together. In 2007, after Nowak had returned to earth, Oefelein ended his relationship with Nowak as he had moved on with Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman - which prompted Nowak to access Oefelein’s private emails with Shipman.
After Nowak discovered where Shipman lived, she drove 900 miles to Orlando International Airport where Shipman was set to land after taking a flight from Houston.
One of the details of the story which has somewhat eclipsed the tale is the fact that detectives revealed three used diapers were found in the backseat of her car, which Detective Becton testified at trial that “Captain Nowak had acknowledged having used on the trip to reduce the number of stops” according to the New York Times. (Nowak’s attorney, Mr. Lykkebak, however, claimed that the diapers were “left over” after her family had evacuated from Hurricane Rita two years prior.)
When Nowak finally arrived at the airport, she waited for Shipman to arrive and hopped on a shuttle bus to the airport parking lot that Shipman was also on.
In a police affidavit, Shipman revealed that she knew that Nowak (who was dressed in a disguise consisting of a wig and trenchcoat) “was following her” and as she “feared for her safety”, Shipman got into her car as “running footsteps” came towards her.
Nowak is said to have “slapped at the window” of Shipman’s car and claimed that she was stranded by her boyfriend, asking Shipman to give her a ride. After Shipman said no, Nowak then asked to borrow her phone (which Shipman again said no to) which prompted Nowak to cry.
After that, Shipman rolled down her window to talk to her and Nowak allegedly pepper sprayed Shipman in the eyes. Shipman was still able to drive and made it to the toll booth at the parking lot exit, where police were then called to the scene and Nowak was arrested for battery.
According to Reuters, a bag found at the scene belonging to Nowak was filled with weapons including a two pound mallet, four inch knife, rubber hose and 9 mm semi-automatic BB gun.
Biography.com claimed that other things found in Nowak’s belongings included a computer disk full of bondage scenes, printouts of Oefelein and Shipman’s emails, pepper spray and hundreds of dollars in cash.
Nowak appeared in court to face the consequences, which according to The New York Times meant that she was the first ever active-duty astronaut to face felony charges.
She attempted to claim insanity, with Reuters stating that Nowak alleged she had obsessive compulsive disorder, a depressive disorder and other mental health issues, though the paperwork was later sealed under the judge’s order.
Nowak eventually pleaded guilty to felony burglary of a car and misdemeanour battery, which resulted in a year’s probation, 50 hours of community service and court-mandated anger management classes. She was also was made to write an apology to Oefelein and Shipman, though a judge told her, “You are to stay totally away from [Shipman] and have absolutely no contact of any sort. You brought this on yourself. I don’t have any sympathy for you in that respect.”
Although she had been charged with attempted kidnapping, the felony charge was dropped and Nowak apologised to Shipman on the stand saying, “I am sincerely sorry. I hope very much that we can all move forward from this with privacy and peace."
Shipman was not however pleased with the result, as she said according to Fox, "Please don’t be fooled. I was fooled. Lisa Nowak is a very good actress… Almost three years later, I'm still reeling from her vicious attack. I know in my heart when Lisa Nowak attacked me, she was going to kill me. I believe I escaped a horrible death that night."
Shipman later cried during her final statement, saying, “The world as I knew it before Lisa Nowak attacked me is gone. I constantly look over my shoulder when I go outside so I can’t be a victim to a surprise attack again.”
Shipman also claimed that she had been made to feel guilty for bringing the case up in the first place, saying in a 2016 interview, “Everybody from my commander on down was treating me like, why can’t you just make this go away? The prosecutor made the decision. It was not up to me. I wasn’t really pushing anything, except doing what I thought a responsible person would do, which was to report a crime and then cooperate with authorities.”
Where is Lisa Nowak now?
Nowak and her husband divorced in 2008. Shortly after the 2007 incident, NASA fired Nowak and the navy followed suit in 2011 when she was given an “other than honorable” discharge - which included a demotion from captain to commander. Her case was sealed in 2011.
In 2017, People claimed that Nowak lived in “a modest home in Texas and works in the private sector”. Although she declined to be interviewed, her attorney told the outlet that she is “doing well”.
As for Shipman and Oefelein, the pair moved to Oefelein’s home state Alaska and tied the knot in 2010 - leaving their lives in space behind them. Shipman gave an interview to People in 2016, in which it was revealed she is a novelist and runs a website called Adventurewrite.com with her husband. She has a son with Oefelein called Junior.
What was the Lucy in the Sky diaper controversy?
Director Noah Hawley revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that there would be no diapers in Lucy in the Sky, explaining that the detail “just didn’t fit into the story.”
He said, “What was interesting to me, as I thought about taking this on, was what’s really behind a tabloid story? A human being with dignity who made some bad choices and ended up in a story that is now smaller than it should be.”
“Her human experience has been reduced to a joke, on some level. I wanted to try to tell that story, and allow her to retain her dignity—but you now understand what she did, and now it’s a tragedy and not a farce. As a tragedy, she can find some redemption,” he continued.
Despite his well intentioned reasoning, Twitter had a lot of (less considered) feelings about his decision, “WHY would you make a movie about the Diaper Astronaut and then take the diaper part out” one user said.
Portman also addressed the backlash to Hawley’s diaper-related decision on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She said, “We didn’t do [the diaper] in the movie and everyone’s like: ‘Where’s the diaper?!’ Everyone’s really upset to not see me in a diaper.”
Hawley talked about the diaper again following the backlash, saying to the Hollywood Reporter, “I found it interesting that response, people who said, 'There's no diaper and I'm not OK with that.’ I thought it said more about them really; what is it that makes you want that detail, that makes you want to reduce her to a punch line again?”
"The goal of the film is to re-humanize her and to build empathy for her, to show you that she had an emotional and existential crisis and that's part of becoming an adult,” he said.
When does Lucy in the Sky come out in the UK?
Lucy in the Sky will come out on December 6, 2019.
