Is Dope Thief Based on a True Story? Are Ray Driscoll and Manny Carvalho Based on Real People?

Apple TV+’s ‘Dope Thief’ is a crime drama that follows the story of two friends, Ray Driscoll and Manny Carvalho, who make money by robbing low-level drug dealers. For a while, business is good, as they manage to make enough money to sustain themselves but are also cautious enough not to ruffle the feathers of criminals or the Feds. However, it only takes one mistake to unravel the whole thing. Created by Peter Craig, the show follows Ray and Manny as they try to save themselves and their loved ones from the dangerous drug dealers while also trying to evade the authorities. The story is presented from a highly realistic lens, revealing a different side of the world of the drug trade.

Dope Thief is an Adaptation of a Novel That Draws Upon Real Incidents

‘Dope Thief’ is a fictional story that adapts the 2009 novel of the same name by Dennis Tafoya. The author got the idea for the story during his time as an EMT in a Philadelphia emergency room. He talked about biker gangs running speed labs in farmhouses and other abandoned locations in the countryside. Once, one such lab was burned, and Tafoya and his team were inundated with calls about treating burn injuries. What stuck with the writer was the discovery of a burnt body in the woods near the lab. The circumstances surrounding the body led him to wonder about where it might have come from and what the victim’s backstory might have been.

This led him to create characters who would land themselves in a dangerous situation but would still be sympathetic to the audience. Tafoya set the story in Philadelphia, but it still required him to delve deep into research. He spent hours scouring through books and sources on the Internet that would give him an insight into the world he wanted to create for his book. Apple TV+ later optioned the novel, and Peter Craig was brought on board to adapt the story for the screen. After reading the book, Craig was immediately drawn to Ray and Manny’s characters due to his affinity for con men and frauds. He liked the morally grey area they would traverse throughout the story and how their imperfections were the most interesting parts of the tale. While he loved the way everything turned out in the book, he was not interested in adapting it as is.

Peter Craig Took Some Creative Liberties While Developing the Script For the Screen

Before writing the script, Peter Craig had a few ideas about how he wanted to approach the story. He shared it with Dennis Tafoya, who wholeheartedly agreed to those changes. The first thing that Craig did was to drop the second part of the novel. He noted that the first part is fast-paced and full of action, and the resolution comes in the middle of the book. The second half majorly focuses on the retrospection of the characters, which would have been more difficult to bring to the screen. So, he decided to focus entirely on the first part and end the story with the resolution.

Another thing that he did was transport the story to 2021, following the chaos of COVID-19. With the entire country in shambles, dealing with the fallout of the pandemic, the chaos of Ray and Manny’s life felt more at home. He also looked towards films like ‘Chinatown,’ ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ ‘The Getaway’ and ‘Straw Dogs’ to devise the complexity of Ray and Manny. It was also decided to keep the city in a perpetual state of dusk, reflecting the story’s tone. They referred to ‘Fargo’ to find the right palette that would keep a vague time of the day throughout the show to add another layer of realism to the tale and disorient the viewers.

Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura Brought Their Personal Touch to the Characters

When Peter Craig started crafting the plot lines of Ray and Manny, he wanted to make sure they came across as regular people who have landed themselves in a bad situation they can’t escape. Instead of presenting them as the heroes who would adapt to the world of crime and come out victorious, he wanted them to meet the consequences of their actions due to their own follies and failures. He also focused on the characters’ loneliness, allowing the camera to linger on them a little longer to highlight their dissonance with the people and the world around them. Actors Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura added more details by enriching the emotional range of the characters with their personal stories.

Moura described Manny as the most vulnerable character he has played so far while also acknowledging the stark difference he has with Pablo Escobar of ‘Narcos.’ With Craig, he emphasized delving more into Manny’s life with different people, giving the audience more sense of his personal struggles, particularly addiction. Brian Tyree Henry called Ray one of the hardest characters he has brought to the screen, particularly with respect to his alcoholism, past trauma, and issues with his father. He was committed to bringing out Ray’s journey to sobriety, especially as a person of color. All these additions bring more depth to the characters, making them more realistic and sympathetic despite being entirely fictional.