Is ‘Nomadland’ Based On a True Story?

Chloé Zhao’s buzzy, critically-acclaimed Nomadland is finally available for the general public to watch, both in theaters and streaming on Hulu, free to subscribers.

Starring Frances McDormand as a woman named Fern who moves into her van out of financial necessity, this drama is a searing portrait of the ways America has failed to support its older citizens. And, unfortunately, this is not something that Zhao—who also wrote the screenplay—made up. In many ways, Nomadland is all too real for many Americans who have been forced into similar situations. The film even features several real people who live as nomads, just as McDormand’s character does.

Read on to get the full scoop on the Nomadland true story.

Is Nomadland based on a true story?

Yes—but also no. McDormand’s character in Nomadland, Fern, is fictional, as is David Strathairn’s character, David. Their love story is a work of fiction. However, the movie was adapted from the 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, which examines the rising phenomenon of older Americans who live as “nomads,” out of trailers, campers, vans, and other vehicles out of economic necessity, many of whom were affected by the 2008 economic recession. The film features several real people from Bruder’s book portraying characters that Fern meets on her journey.

Who are Linda May, Bob Wells, and Swankie?

Linda May, who appears in Nomadland as herself, is a real woman who was the subject of Jessica Bruder’s 2014 Harpers Magazine essay, The End of Retirement: When You Can’t Afford to Stop Working. That essay is still available online and is worth a read from anyone who saw May in Nomadland. Many of the things that May says in the film—including the story of how she nearly killed herself when she found herself alone on Thanksgiving Day in her trailer and stopped only when she thought of hurting her dogs—are stories from her real life. May turned to the nomad lifestyle out of financial necessity, in the early 2010s.

Just like Fern in the movie, May worked for Amazon’s “CamperForce,” which is a real thing to this day. It’s a labor force used by the billion-dollar corporation that is made up entirely of people living out of RVs and vans, many of them elderly. Amazon hires these for the Christmas shopping season only and gives them a place to park. May worked at a warehouse in Fernley, Nevada, so perhaps McDormand’s character name is a nod to that detail. According to the Harper’s essay, May made $12.25 an hour and worked 10-hour days on her feet scanning bar codes. Her hours were from 6 p.m to 4:30 a.m., with two fifteen-minute breaks, and one 30-minute break for a meal. She was in her 60s at the time. Bruder hammers home just how grueling her work conditions were for so little pay—and yet almost all of the elderly Amazon workers Bruder spoke to were grateful for the employment.

May was inspired to spend what little money she had saved on a broken-down RV by Bob Wells, another real person who portrays himself in Nomadland. Wells is a self-described “vandweller,” or someone who lives full or part-time in a van, and is the founder of cheaprvliving.com. Wells gained fame on YouTube and through his books, inspiring many to try out the nomad lifestyle for themselves. Just as he does in the movie, he offers tips for finding safe places to park, avoiding police, and more. Wells hosts gatherings of RV-dwellers, including the “Rubber Tramp Rendezvous” in Quartzsite, Arizona, which May attended in real life and in the film.

May told Bruder that gathering was the first time she felt joy in years. “The other day, for the first time in years and years, I felt joy. Joy! That’s better than being happy,” she said.

As for Swankie, Fern’s friend with cancer in the film, she is not featured in the Harper’s essay, but she is a real person portraying herself. You can read her blog post about the experience filming the movie on her website, swankiewheels.blogspot.com.

Watch Nomadland on Hulu