Character Relationship Map: True Identity

Characters

• Miles Pope (played by Lenny Henry) — protagonist

  Miles Pope is a struggling Black actor returning home after a failed audition. After learning that Leland Carver has mafia connections, he becomes the only person who knows Leland's past. With help fr...

• Leland Carver (played by Frank Langella) — protagonist

  Leland Carver is a producer whom Miles Pope meets on a flight home. Believing the plane is about to crash, Leland accidentally reveals his mafia ties. When the plane lands safely, Miles is left knowin...

• Kristi (played by Anne-Marie Johnson) — supporting

  Kristi is someone Miles turns to when he needs help breaking into Leland Carver’s office to find evidence. She does not believe Miles’s account, so he receives no assistance from her and must continue...

• Frank LaMotta (played by Christopher Collins) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Leland Carver → Frank LaMotta (Power Crime Boss And Assassin) — Carver directs LaMotta's attempts to remove people he considers threats, reprimanding him when the killing attempt fails.

  Carver orders LaMotta to kill Miles, berates him when the job goes wrong, and orders him to eliminate Duane as well.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Miles Pope → Kristi (Social Unconvinced Acquaintance) — Miles seeks Kristi's assistance with the danger surrounding him, but she is not persuaded by his account.

  Miles asks Kristi for help, but she does not believe him.

• Miles Pope → Leland Carver (Conflict Target And Pursuer) — Miles's knowledge of Carver's criminal past makes him a target; Carver tries to prevent him from exposing that past.

  Miles says he met a man on a plane who claimed to be the notorious mobster believed dead, and that the man is now trying to kill him. The plot identif...

Story Analysis

A struggling actor becomes a target after learning of a mobster's criminal past, while his theater work intersects with an effort to expose that past.

Plot Progression

1. A Stage Under Pressure — Miles struggles as an actor and objects to being pushed toward a stereotyped performance. He plays along to satisfy the playwright while danger from an unrelated-looking case approaches.
2. The Mobster's Target — Miles says that a man he met on a plane revealed a notorious identity and is now trying to kill him. His warning is dismissed, while Carver orders LaMotta to eliminate him.
3. An Uncertain Investigation — An FBI agent doubts Miles but eventually gives him a chance to find evidence connecting Carver to his past. Miles asks Kristi for help and searches for Carver, but the effort does not produce the soug...
4. The Theater Becomes a Battleground — Miles's understudy role in Othello brings the theater into the investigation. Carver fears Miles may testify, and the FBI's suspicions and Carver's plan converge around the production.