WACO, Texas — A lot of us are spending our days' binge-watching stuff on Netflix. And right now, one of the most-watched shows in the U.S. is based on a Mainer's account of the Branch Davidians' raid in Waco, Texas back in 1993.
75 people were killed. David Thibodeau is one of the 9 survivors and he's from Bangor. Thibodeau wrote one of the two books the series is based on.
We spoke with him from his home in Texas to get his take on the series.
"When I first heard they want to make the series he said, yeah, you're never going to make this movie,” Thibodeau said. “A lot of people have tried but I let them do it and it went from a two-hour movie to a six-part series. I couldn't believe that the entire journey kept happening and the next thing I know I'm on set and they re-created Mount Carmel."
One of the main reason that Thibodeau said he was glad they made the movie was to remember and honor those that died.
“I am happy with the series because it's humanized the people which was incredibly important to me after the years of demonization in character assassination of all those people that have died and those that have lived had to suffer," Thibodeau said.
"I got to do a cameo at the end it was a lot of fun," he added. “It was a piece where Michael Shannon's character kind of met the real Gary Noesner and I was sitting next to Rory (Culkin). The camera is on me and I shook his hand and we walked off and there's Rory getting ready to speak before Congress."
Thibodeau said his book, Waco: A Survivor's Story, is far more accurate because the producers had to take some dramatic liberties and change some chronologies to work around the characters.
When asked about his connection to Maine, Thibodeau said, "I still consider Maine my home. I have a ton of friends up there and business owners. I miss the Indian restaurant downtown and there's plenty of people I got to know in the community and its great. I love Bangor. "
Thibodeau said he likes the series because a lot of people will get to see the other side of the story. He is hoping more people will read the constitution because of this and perhaps some good will come out of it.
More information and a link to David's book can be found here.
More video of David Thibodeau's interview on the Waco series.