20 Things You Didn't Know About War Of The Worlds

10. Tim Robbins' Character Is A Composite Of Three Characters From The Novel

War of the Worlds 2005 Tom Cruise
Paramount Pictures

As much as non-readers might assume that Tim Robbins' character Harlan Ogilvy is a pure carry-over from the source material, that's actually not the case at all.

Rather, Harlan is a composite of three different characters: the curate who ends up trapped with the protagonist, an artilleryman with deranged plans to survive by living underground, and an astronomer named Ogilvy.

Nevertheless, Robbins makes the character very much his own: a twisted picture of the survival instinct gone awry, as is reluctantly killed by Ray when he won't stop mouthing off.

Fun fact: the character was named Harlan in tribute to legendary sci-fi author Harlan Ellison.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.