"Joy" might have Joy Mangano's stamp of approval, but that doesn't mean everything is 100% biographical. In a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, Elizabeth Gabler, then president of Fox 2000, explained that "Joy" is a blend of reality and the mind of David O. Russell, saying, "The film is definitely a very rich tapestry, and all those threads come from some places in Joy's real story and some places that came out of his imagination and other places that he just picked up along the way of his life."
Some things — like the success of Mangano's first appearance on QVC — were changed for the screen. While the fictional inventor is tasked with making 50,000 mops in a week, the real one only had to craft 1,000. Another discrepancy is her jealous half sister Peggy (Elisabeth Röhm), who doesn't actually exist.
Despite these modifications, after spending approximately 100 hours on the phone with Mangano, Russell accurately depicts the most important lesson of her life. Mangano told ABC News, "So many of us have ideas and inspirations and the mop just represents all of that. And how many of us stuck it away and say, 'You know, I don't know, but if you believe in yourself and go after it.' That really is the message."
