Summary
Some of the true story details about the real-life Gary Johnson were left out ofHit Man. The new Glen Powell film features theTop Gun: Maverickbreakout star in his most versatile role yet, playing a loner college professor who moonlights as an assassin for his local police department.Hit Manalso became Powell’s highest-rated movieof his acting career afterearning a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, slightly getting the edge over the massively successful box office hitTop Gun: Maverick, which earned a score of 96%. Since releasing on Netflix on August 17, 2025, the film has become one of the most popular titles on the streaming platform.
Hit Manis full of interesting twists and cleverly toys with the concept of identity through Powell’s dual portrayals of Ron and Gary, but still effectively carries some familiar tropes of beloved action comedies.Hit Man’scastis also led by Adria Arjona who plays Madison, the unexpected love interest of Powell’s Gary Johnson. Madison believes that Gary is actually Ron, a stylish, confident, and very dangerous trained assassin. Already considered one of thebest movies of Richard Linklater’sextensive career as a director and screenwriter,Hit Manblends several genres to create a well-balancedmix of screwball/romantic comedy, action-inspired thriller, and classic film noir.
Linklater basedHit Manon aTexas Monthlyarticle written in 2001 by Skip Hollandsworththat first put the real-life Gary Johnson in a bright spotlight. The actual Gary Johnson, who passed away in 2022, assumedmany aliases during his time as an undercover “hitman"with the Houston police department and found himself in unbelievable circumstances with potential clients, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. While there is currently no word of aHit Mansequel,Linklater has been known for his impressive trilogies and spiritual sequels, meaning that the dynamic duo between him and Powell could continue sometime in the future.
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At least part of the inspiration for Adria Arjona’sHit Mancharacter Madison was inspired by a real-life situation that Gary Johnson had encountered. According to theTexas Monthlyarticle, Gary helped out a potential client who was being physically abused by her boyfriend who went to Gary looking to have him killed. Instead of going through the traditional route of staging the sting operation that would lead to the woman’s arrest,Gary took matters into his own hands and helped the woman get the therapy and support she neededfrom available social services in order to leave the boyfriend safely and under professional guidance. It would be one of the rare situations in which Gary would break from his strategy.
9Gary Johnson’s Most Famous Bust Was Houston Socialite Lynn Kilroy
It’s somewhat surprising that Linklater didn’t care to highlight the most famous bust of the real-life Gary Johnson’s career as an undercover. According to Texas Monthly, Gary “fooled one of Houston’s wealthier women, a 38-year-old beautiful blonde named Lynn Kilroy, the former vice president of the Houstonaires Republican Women, who is married to Billy Kilroy, the heir to a vast oil fortune.” Reportedly, Kilroy had only been married to her then-husband for one year before she started to express her dislike of him and as a result, found herself in a conversation with Gary Johnson after a man she was having an affair with spread word.Kilroy was arrested but avoided prison and was eventually released on probation.
Apparently, Gary Johnson had many more aliases than the ones depicted in Linklater and Powell’s Hit Man. It’s somewhat unsurprising considering just how long the real-life Gary Johnson had been going undercover as a hitman. Some of his other popular real-life aliases included some simple and even ridiculous names such as Jody Eagle, Mike Caine, and Chris Buck. Powell’s rendition of Gary is true to the real-life person in that way thatGary really embraced his performances while he conducted the operations. He would also be quick to resort to his tough guy “Ron” persona when he needed to get things done in a timely fashion.
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7Gary Johnson Was Once Exposed To A Potential Client By A Police Informant
Although the character Jasper, played by Austin Amelio, was created for the movie,the real-life Gary Johnson was betrayed by a police informant who had felt guiltyabout setting his friend up. According toTexas Monthly, “There was one instance when a potential client realized Johnson was a decoy and backed away from a contract. “That was because the informant, feeling guilty about giving up a friend, told the man who wanted to hire me who I really was,” Johnson says.” Sticking to the bit, Gary later made a point to make an unannounced visit to the informant and the client to make sure he wouldn’t think about hiring another guy for the job.
6Gary Became A Local Houston Celebrity During The 1990s
One of the most overlooked aspects of the true story of Gary Johnson that is left out ofHit Manis how much ofa local celebrity Gary had become in and around Houston, Texas. According toTexas Monthly, “By the mid-nineties Johnson’s performances were getting buzz in the local media: The Houston Chronicle regularly ran stories about his cases that contained both his name and the occasional quote from him. One would have thought that someone looking for a hit man might have read stories about Johnson and been concerned about running across him.” Perhaps Linklater avoided the idea that Gary would be well-known as a fake hitman because it’s hard to believe people would not know who he was based on this press.
5Gary Johnson Loved To Set Up His Client Meetings At Denny’s
Several of Gary’s fictitious meetings inHit Mantake place at a local coffee shop or restaurant. In real life,Gary’s location of choice for his client meet-ups was specifically at a local Denny’s. Hollandsworth revealed in hisTexas Monthlypiece, “When Johnson suggested they meet at a Denny’s to discuss the details of the murder—defense attorneys say Johnson is so fond of meeting his clients at Denny’s that the restaurant should name a plate after him—the worker wanted them to have a secret code to recognize each other.” This is the origin of the “All pie is good pie.” slogan that became Gary’s calling card and opened the door for conversation between his clients.
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4Gary Was Hired By A Teen To Kill His Classmate, Not His Mother
The shockingly young teenage client inHit Manwho tried to pay Gary in video games is based on a real-life person, with two main differences. One, the video games were made by Atari for a computer, not an Xbox, and two, the teenage boy wanted Gary to kill a fellow classmate instead of his mother. According toTexas Monthly, “A Houston teenager named Shawn Quinn, a brilliant kid with an IQ of 131, gave Johnson seven Atari computer games, three dollar bills, and $2.30 in nickels and dimes to kill a male classmate he thought was trying to win the affection of a girl he liked.”
3Gary Was Hired By A Houston Police Officer To Kill His Wife For $10,000
Another shocking stranger than fiction story from the real life of Gary Johnson was a client who wasa Houston police officer who somehow didn’t even know who he was. According to Texas Monthly, “Houston police officer William Peoples, a highly regarded eleven-year veteran of the force, decided his ex-wife should die because she was costing him too much money in child support. He hired a convicted murderer on parole to do the killing, but then that man got cold feet, started looking for a subcontractor, and came across Johnson. He offered Johnson $10,000 to carry out the hit.” Peoples was eventually convicted.
2Gary Staged The Fake Death Of A Target Which Resulted In Real Violence
One extreme case that Linklater’sHit Mandoesn’t cover required the real-life Gary Johnson to fake the death of a target. Gary had informed the target that her husband had taken out a hit for $20,000 against her life although the two had been married for years. The man, who was a 60-year-old car salesman, did not want her to receive a sum of money that she would be owed after their upcoming divorce. According toTexas Monthly, “persuaded the wife to be photographed while lying “dead” on a tarp. To add realism, ketchup was poured over the back of her head, ruining her pretty hairdo, and her hands and feet were bound with duct tape.” That situation alsoinvolved another hitman who got cold feet and ended up shooting the client.
1Gary Johnson Was Married & Divorced 3 Times
Gary and Madison appear to live happily ever after at the end of Linklater’sHit Man, living as a happily married couple with several children. The real Gary Johnson also never married one of his undercover targets, so it doesn’t appear that Madison was too heavily inspired by any real person in Gary’s life. Ultimately, Linklater’sHit Manwas definitely inspired by the real-life and true story of Gary Johnson, although outside of the premise, the location, and several key details, the actual story, particularly the romantic elements, it is mostly a work of fiction. There is certainly another type of movie to be made that more closely follows the true life and real clients of Gary Johnson but it seems like Linklater was more interested in creating this version ofHit Manthan crafting a highly accurate biopic.
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Hit Man
Cast
Hit Man centers on a mild-mannered professor involved in police sting operations as a fake hit man. His life spirals into chaos when he unexpectedly falls for a potential client, initiating a series of unforeseen complications and dilemmas.
