# Tyrell Vanto > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Tyrell Vanto," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/tyrell-vanto/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *Hollywood screenwriter and director; son of Jesse Vanto; friend of John Kiriakou; wrote and directed the late-2025 film in which Kiriakou made his acting debut.* - **Father:** Jesse Vanto - **Profession:** Screenwriter and director; characterized by Kiriakou as 'a Hollywood guy' - **Notable:** Wrote and directed the late-2025 film featuring [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s acting debut - **Co-star:** [Jeff Fahey](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jeff-fahey) *The subject's name is rendered here as it appears in the source corpus auto-captions, *Tyrell Vanto*. The same source identifies his father as *Jesse Vanto*. If a more authoritative spelling subsequently appears in a Kiriakou source it will be reflected here.* **Tyrell Vanto** is a Hollywood screenwriter and director, son of Jesse Vanto, and a personal friend of [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou). He is described by Kiriakou as *"one of the sweetest men I've ever met"* and *"a really good-hearted, kind guy."*[1] ## The Kiriakou film In July 2025 Vanto telephoned Kiriakou to inform him that he had written a film and that Kiriakou would be in it — in a role written specifically for him. Kiriakou's initial response was to decline on the grounds that he had never acted before and would *"wreck your movie."* Vanto's reply: *"I thought of that, and I thought you've been acting every day of your career when you were with the CIA."* Kiriakou agreed and traveled to Mexico for the entire month of October 2025 for filming.[2][3][4] ### Plot The film's premise, per Kiriakou: > It's about the richest guy in the world who's a cross between Elon Musk and Erik Prince, and he has a son who has become his daughter, and so they're estranged. And he hasn't told anybody but he's dying of liver cancer, and so he invites the country's preeminent lefty podcaster and the country's preeminent righty podcaster to come, and he's going to tell his story for the first time. And then they sort of are competing with one another how they're going to shape the story. One falls apart, the other one gets it done. And then I'm the director of the guy's security detail — former CIA ops officer.[5][6] Kiriakou's character is described as *"an asshole and a liar."* Lines attributed to his role include *"Do I smell like I've been with a woman?"*[7] ## Kiriakou's review of the first cut After watching the first cut of the film, Kiriakou stated: *"This movie's actually good. Like, I would go to the theater to watch it."*[8] ## See also - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) - [Jeff Fahey](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jeff-fahey) ## Sources 1. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 03:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=187s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 2. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 03:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=219s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 3. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 04:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=253s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 4. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 04:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=283s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 5. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 06:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=376s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 6. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 06:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=406s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 7. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 07:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=437s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ 8. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 05:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=345s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/tyrell-vanto/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt