Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) is a protagonist in Apollo 13.
Commander of Apollo 13 who leads his crew through a catastrophic in-flight explosion. He redirects the mission from a lunar landing to survival, manages crew tensions, and successfully guides the spacecraft back to Earth after manually steering the Lunar Module. Fred Haise (played by Bill Paxton) is a protagonist in Apollo 13.
Lunar Module Pilot who assists Lovell in powering up the Aquarius as a lifeboat. He suffers from a urinary tract infection during the crisis and initially blames Swigert for the accident before being calmed by Lovell. Jack Swigert (played by Kevin Bacon) appears in Apollo 13.
Command Module Pilot who replaces Ken Mattingly at the last minute. His action of turning on the oxygen stirring fans triggers the catastrophic explosion, and he later assists in restarting the Command Module systems for re-entry. Ken Mattingly (played by Gary Sinise) appears in Apollo 13.
Original Command Module Pilot replaced by Jack Swigert due to measles exposure. He is later recalled to Houston by John Aaron to help develop the critical procedure for restarting the Command Module systems. Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) appears in Apollo 13.
Mission Control Flight Director who takes charge after the explosion, rallying his ground team with the famous failure is not an option mantra to engineer the crew safe return to Earth.
Apollo 13 (1995) character relationship network mapped with AI analysis. Explore the connections, alliances, and conflicts between characters.
Characters
Jim Lovell
(played by Tom Hanks) — protagonist
Commander of Apollo 13 who leads his crew through a catastrophic in-flight explosion. He redirects the mission from a lunar landing to survival, manages crew tensions, and successfully guides the spac...
Fred Haise
(played by Bill Paxton) — protagonist
Lunar Module Pilot who assists Lovell in powering up the Aquarius as a lifeboat. He suffers from a urinary tract infection during the crisis and initially blames Swigert for the accident before being...
Jack Swigert
(played by Kevin Bacon) — supporting
Command Module Pilot who replaces Ken Mattingly at the last minute. His action of turning on the oxygen stirring fans triggers the catastrophic explosion, and he later assists in restarting the Comman...
Ken Mattingly
(played by Gary Sinise) — supporting
Original Command Module Pilot replaced by Jack Swigert due to measles exposure. He is later recalled to Houston by John Aaron to help develop the critical procedure for restarting the Command Module s...
Gene Kranz
(played by Ed Harris) — supporting
Mission Control Flight Director who takes charge after the explosion, rallying his ground team with the famous failure is not an option mantra to engineer the crew safe return to Earth.
Key Relationships
Ken Mattingly → Gene Kranz
(Professional Ground Support And Flight Director)
Jack Swigert → Ken Mattingly
(Professional Backup And Replacement)
Fred Haise → Jack Swigert
(Alliance Crewmate)
Jim Lovell → Gene Kranz
(Power Commander And Flight Director)
Jim Lovell → Ken Mattingly
(Professional Former Crewmate)
Jim Lovell → Jack Swigert
(Alliance Crewmate)
Jim Lovell → Fred Haise
(Alliance Crewmate)
Story Analysis
A true story of astronauts and ground control overcoming catastrophic failure through teamwork and improvisation.
