8 ‘Waco’ Cast Members With Their Real-Life Counterparts
Prepare to get, uh, extremely creeped out.
Excellent news: Waco, a six-part limited series about David Koresh and the infamous siege in Texas, is now available to stream on Netflix. This show actually came out a couple of years ago on Paramount Network, but the streaming gods have answered our prayers for something new to binge while we hang out at home. As you know, Waco is based on a true story, meaning all the characters (for the most part) are modeled after real-life people—and let me tell you, the casting team did a phenomenal job with this one. Here, side-by-side photos of the Waco cast and their IRL counterparts.
David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch)
Taylor Kitsch, aka Tim Riggins, plays David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians—a religious sect, or as some may call it, an apocalyptic cult. Born Vernon Wayne Howell, Koresh and his followers lived in a compound in Waco, Texas, that became the center of a national news story when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms attempted a raid. The raid was unsuccessful, a shootout ensued, and then the FBI took over, resulting in a siege that lasted for 51 days.
Gary Noesner (Michael Shannon)
Gary Noesner was the FBI agent who coordinated negotiations between Koresh and the government agents for the first part of the siege. He retired from the FBI in 2003, and in 2010, he wrote a book titled Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator. Noesner worked as a consultant on the Paramount series.
Rachel Koresh (Melissa Benoist)
Born Rachel Jones, Rachel Koresh was one of David’s wives. They married when she was 14 and had two children together, Cyrus and Starr. Rachel and both children died in the fire that destroyed the compound, as did David. (Sorry, hope that didn’t spoil it for ya. I mean, it is based on a true story, okay?!)
Robert Rodriguez (John Leguizamo)
Robert Rodriguez was an ATF agent who, prior to the raid, went undercover in the Waco compound and posed as a student. When Koresh found out the raid was coming, Rodriguez tried to warn his fellow agents that they should abandon the plan, but they went through with it anyway. Rodriguez later filed a lawsuit against members of the ATF, claiming that they defamed him and conspired against him. The case was settled out of court. In the miniseries, the character based on Rodriguez is named Jacob Vazquez.
David Thibodeau (Rory Culkin)
David Thibodeau lived in the Waco compound and was one of the few survivors of the siege. In 1999, he wrote a memoir about his time there called A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story. He is now 48 and lives in Maine, and like Gary Noesner, he worked as a consultant on Waco.
Michelle Jones (Julia Garner)
Michelle Jones was the younger sister of Rachel Jones Koresh. David Koresh took Michelle for his second wife while she was still a young teenager, and when the group began to suspect that law enforcement would find out about the polygamy and alleged child abuse within the group, Koresh arranged a decoy marriage between Michelle and David Thibodeau. Michelle and her two children died during the fire.
Steve Schneider (Paul Sparks)
Steve Schneider was David Koresh’s second-in-command. He died in the Waco fire along with his wife, Judy.
Judy Schneider (Andrea Riseborough)
This is Judy! Judy and her husband, Steve, followed David Koresh loyally. Judy even mothered one of Koresh’s children…who later died in the Waco fire.
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