Maya from Zero Dark Thirty is the real Carrie Mathison from Homeland

Claire Danes's discredited CIA agent, Carrie Mathison, is back in the thick of it (Showtime)

If coverage of the CIA operative whose intel was instructive in capturing Osama Bin Laden reminded you of a certain Emmy-winning TV show, you're not alone. Maureen Dowd has written a piece for the New York Times comparing the real-life operative, known in Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming movie as "Maya" and Clare Danes' character from Homeland.

"Like Carrie, she's a talented analyst but not, according to colleagues, Miss Congeniality," writes Dowd, referencing a profile of the agent written by The Washington Post's Greg Miller, in which Miller reveals "Maya" was passed over for promotion following the successful operation.

Interestingly, Dowd also points out there is a third controversial, powerful woman at the centre of this story: Kathryn Bigelow, the 61-year-old director of Bin Laden movie Zero Dark Thirty and - as late as 2009 - the first ever woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director. "Bigelow, too, sets off waves of envy in her insular community," says Down. "The glamorous 61-year-old, the first woman to win a best director Oscar, for The Hurt Locker, has become Hollywood’s unsentimental premier chronicler of war. After worrying about criticism of their CIA access from the right, Bigelow and Boal are now the toasts of the right."