Richard Linklater’s Hit Man is adapted from a 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth. Following the movie’s release on Netflix, fans are wondering who the wife of the real Gary Johnson was and whether Maddy Masters is real or fictional. Hit Man follows Gary (Glen Powell), a college psychology and philosophy professor who starts pretending to be a hitman in the sting operations conducted by the New Orleans Police Department. Things take an unexpected turn when he encounters Madison “Maddy” Masters (Adria Arjona), a former target whom he convinced not to issue a hit on her husband.
Here is everything we have discovered about Gary Johnson’s real life and whether Maddy Masters exists.
Who was Gary Johnson’s real-life wife?
Gary Johnson had three weddings and divorces as of 2001. He got along well with his second wife, Sunny, when the article was written.
As per Texas Monthly, Sunny described her former husband as unlike his personas, saying: “He’ll show up at parties and have a good time, and he’s always friendly, but he likes being alone, being quiet. It’s still amazing to me that he can turn on this other personality that makes people think he is a vicious killer.”
Is Hit Man’s Madison “Maddy” Masters a real person or fictional?
Hit Man’s Madison “Maddy” Masters is fictional.
There is a time skip after the climax of Hit Man. Several years later, Gary and Maddy are married and have two children together. Although Gary did not marry a real-world version of Maddy, he did meet and help a woman who was in similar circumstances. This story mentioned in Texas Monthly might have inspired Maddy’s character in the film.
According to the article, a woman once reached out to Johnson to kill her abusive boyfriend. She believed that she couldn’t escape her boyfriend in any other way and spoke to a Starbucks employee about hiring a hitman. The employee contacted the police. When Johnson was informed, he did some research and discovered that she was indeed a victim of domestic violence. Johnson subsequently met her and convinced her to go to social service agencies and a therapist for the help she needed.
