‘Zero Dark Thirty’: Mystery woman behind bin Laden raid

Eric Pfeiffer
·Reporter

The new trailer for "Zero Dark Thirty," which details the hunt for Osama bin Laden, hints that the real star of the film may not be U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six, but a "wicked smart" female CIA analyst who helped coordinate the mission that brought bin Laden down.

The preview for director Kathryn Bigelow's follow-up to "The Hurt Locker" puts the focus on Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain. She reportedly plays the unnamed CIA analyst who is central to a 10-year effort to track down the world's most wanted terrorist. An exchange between two of the SEAL characters seems to be the biggest clue.

Watch the new 'Zero Dark Thirty' trailer:
'Zero Dark Thirty' Teaser Trailer 2

Chris Pratt, who portrays one of the SEALs, turns to fellow soldier Joel Edgerton and asks, "You really believe this story? Osama bin Laden?"

"Yeah," Edgerton's character responds.

"What part convinced you?"

Edgerton then points his arms in Chastain's direction and says, "Her confidence."

[Related: Jessica Chastain Takes Another Risk in Her Meteoric Rise From Obscurity]

Chastain made reference to the role on her Facebook page on Thursday, but has remained coy about the exact details surrounding her character.

"Hey everyone. The newest trailer for my upcoming film, 'Zero Dark Thirty,' was released today and I wanted to share it with you all," Chastain wrote. "I'm still not allowed to talk about it, but any guesses as to who I play? The creative answer with the most 'likes' wins!!!"

The speculation surrounding her role lines up with a "60 Minutes" interview given by one of the SEALs involved in the bin Laden operation.

"One of the passengers on their plane was a CIA analyst who had spent five years on bin Laden's trail," host Scott Pelley said in the piece, which ran in September.

In the piece, ex-SEAL and "No Easy Day" author "Mark Owen" (a pseudonym) gives much of the credit to the unnamed female CIA analyst he refers to only as "Jen." Owen says the analyst was more convinced than anyone, including President Obama and CIA head LeonPanetta, that bin Laden was hiding in the Abbottabad compound in Pakistan.

She reportedly traveled to Afghanistan to brief the SEALs before their mission, informing them of what they were likely to encounter during the raid.

"I can't give her enough credit. In my opinion, she kind of teed up this whole thing and is just wicked smart, kind of feisty," Owen told "60 Minutes." "We'd always talk back and forth, you know, what do you think the odds of this are? What do you think? And she was always like, '100 percent, he's there.'"

"SEAL Team Six just took care of the last 40 minutes," Owen added.

"Zero Dark Thirty" opens December 19.

'Zero Dark Thirty' Teaser Trailer

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Islanders' priority is reliable service, DFDS told

    At a public meeting islanders tell Danish ferry firm reliability was their priority for future services.

  • Lucky Irish lotto shop celebrating second big win

    A Limerick shop lays claim to being Ireland's luckiest after selling its second life-changing ticket.

  • Commissioner must apologise over social media posts

    Conservative candidate Festus Akinbusoye says "he rejects and refutes the findings" of the panel.

  • Sports scoreboard for Wednesday, April 24, 2024

    Wednesday's Scoreboard NHL Playoffs First Round Boston 4 Toronto 2 (Boston leads best-of-seven series 2-1) Los Angeles 5 Edmonton 4 (OT) (Best-of-seven series tied 1-1) Vegas 3 Dallas 1 (Vegas leads best-of-seven series 2-0) --- PWHL Montreal 5 New York 2 Ottawa 3 Boston 2 (SO) --- AHL Playoffs First Round Calgary 2 Tucson 0 (Calgary leads best-of-three series 1-0) Belleville 3 Toronto 1 (Belleville leads best-of-three series 1-0) Abbotsford 4 Colorado 2 (Abbotsford leads best-of-three series 1-

  • Development decision paves way for up to 600 homes

    The States has approved development guidelines for two news sites in St Peter Port.

  • Villagers oppose football club's plans to expand

    One resident has likened the football club's expansion to having a championship club in the village.

  • Netflix removes all of these movies and TV shows this month

    Including a long-standing hit sitcom and two original titles

  • Kopitar's OT winner lifts Kings to 5-4 win over Oilers, even series at 1-1

    EDMONTON — Anze Kopitar scored the overtime winner and had a pair of assists as the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 to tie their opening-round playoff series 1-1 on Wednesday. Kopitar scored just 2:07 into overtime after a weird bounce gave him a lane up the centre of the ice and he beat Stuart Skinner high to the glove side. Adrian Kempe, with a pair of goals, Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala also scored for Los Angeles, which is looking for revenge after being knocked out in

  • Sadiq Khan admits mayoral elections will be judgement day on Ulez and other transport policies

    Asked at a BBC London TV hustings whether he had succeeded in bringing Londoners with him on clean air and car travel, he says: ‘We will find out on May 2’

  • UPDATE 1-Toyota hits record annual output, sales on robust demand

    Toyota Motor said on Thursday its global sales and production hit record highs in the year ended March 31, supported by robust demand and the absence of semiconductor supply constraints it had to endure in recent years. Still, Toyota plans to delay the start of its electric vehicle (EV) production in the U.S. and trim domestic production to ensure product safety and quality after a series of scandals at its group firms, the Mid Japan Economist newspaper said. For the year ended March, Toyota said its parent-only global sales rose 7.3% to 10.31 million units year-on-year, surpassing the 10 million mark for the first time, while its output came to 9.97 million units, up 9.2% on the year.

  • Nicola Coughlan was told support for Palestine would cost her Hollywood work

    Coughlan says advocacy for social justice has always been part of her life

  • Disaster volunteers set off for 'fake quake' training

    Volunteers training to respond to disasters fly out for their final assessment for charity Serve On.

  • Greater Manchester mayor hopefuls clash over key issues in BBC debate

    Five candidates vying to become Greater Manchester mayor take part in a special BBC election debate.

  • Anze Kopitar scores in overtime, Kings beat Oilers 5-4 in Game 2 to tie series

    EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anze Kopitar fired a wrist shot past Stuart Skinner’s glove and into the top corner on a breakaway to give the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series. Kopitar picked up the puck near the Edmonton blue line, moved in on Talbot and shot from the slot as Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse dove to try to block the shot. Los Angeles rebounded from a 7-4 loss Monday night in the opener to send the se

  • Derbyshire County Council 'sat on millions' for special needs school places

    The council says allocating special educational needs places takes time and cannot be rushed.

  • Jurgen Klopp has checked out at Liverpool – he should never have said he was leaving in January

    Here in the final stretch of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool love affair, you feel you are witnessing everything for the last time. With 24 days left, all is freeze-framed for posterity: his last Merseyside derby, his last press conference put-down, his last casual haranguing of the fourth official. This was meant to be a chapter supercharged with joy and gratitude at the parting of a managerial visionary, but instead the dominant emotion, after his first Goodison defeat to Everton at the worst possibl

  • FOREX-Yen plumbs 34-year low as intervention risks grow

    The yen was pinned on the weaker side of 155 per dollar on Thursday as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kicks off its two-day rate-setting meeting, leaving traders nervous as to whether Tokyo will intervene while policy deliberations are still underway. As the BOJ meets to discuss monetary policy, expectations are for the central bank to keep its short-term interest rate target unchanged at the conclusion of the meeting on Friday, following last month's landmark exit from negative rates. "We expect the BOJ meeting to deliver a marginally hawkish hold outcome," said Carl Ang, fixed income research analyst at MFS Investment Management.

  • Sandhurst: Man gambles £100k in Coral before staff intervene

    John, who is battling a gambling addiction, says he would spend up to £1,500 a day in the bookmakers.

  • Banking hub bid to help local businesses

    A community group is fighting for a shared banking space after the exit of big-name brands.

  • Marlins vs. Braves Highlights

    Marcell Ozuna and the Braves defeated Jesús Sánchez and the Marlins, 4-3