Ford Nation goes Hollywood

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Ford Nation goes Hollywood
Liz Braun
More from Liz Braun
Published:
April 10, 2018
Updated:
April 10, 2018 6:38 PM EDT
Mayor Rob Ford stands up and states his case on privatizing the city's garbage collection, Tuesday May 17, 2011. City Council debates contracting out more of Toronto's trash collection. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun files)
The general consensus on Rob Ford’s bizarre and vaguely criminal run as mayor of Toronto?
“You can’t make this s— up.”
The world o’cinema intends to try nonetheless.
Run This Town, a fictionalized drama about the crack-using former mayor, is being filmed right now in Toronto, with Damian Lewis (TV’s Billions; Wolf Hall) starring as Ford.
And just how will the tall, slender, ginger-haired, aristocratic British actor be transformed into the portly politician?
That’s the magic of the movies, people.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the story centres on a reporter (played by Ben Platt) who hopes to expose a scandal swirling around a politician who doesn’t play by the rules — sounds like folksy Rob Ford, right?
The politician’s aides, who hope to suppress the story, are played by Nina Dobrev and Mena Massoud. Scott Speedman and Jennifer Ehle are also in the cast, although all the characters except Ford are said to be fictitious.
Actor/Writer/producer Ricky Tollman makes his feature directorial debut with this film. Run This Town includes Jonathan Bronfman (The Witch; Patti Cake$; Two Lovers and A Bear) and Andrew Bronfman (Pyewacket; The Void) among its producers.
Guess a story like Rob Ford’s was an inevitable choice for the movies.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and all that.
Ford Nation goes Hollywood | Toronto Sun
 
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It's kind of sad to watch the continued feasting on Rob Ford's bones.

It wasn't enough that he lived out his nightmare addiction in public, as the world laughed.
 
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Damian Lewis transforms into Rob Ford for 'Run This Town'
Mark Daniell
More from Mark Daniell
Published:
April 25, 2018
Updated:
April 25, 2018 12:53 PM EDT
Rob Ford and Damian Lewis are seen in this combination file photo. (Toronto Sun files/ Getty)
If you were trying to picture what Damian Lewis will look like as Rob Ford, wonder no more.
The star of Billions and Homeland is on set in Toronto this week where he is playing the late mayor in the upcoming political drama Run This Town.
Pics posted on etalk’s website showed Lewis arriving to the set Sunday night and then emerging from his trailer hours later in full Ford mode in a Ford Nation T-shirt and again later in a fat suit.
According to a release earlier this month, Run This Town, which is being directed by Torontonian Ricky Tollman, follows a young journalist (Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt), desperate to prove himself, who catches wind of a scandal involving a flashy, unpredictable politician with no filter (Lewis). Political aides (Aladdin’s Mena Massoud and Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev) try to keep the story under wraps.
“This isn’t the Rob Ford story, this is a story about people that I know and people I grew up with and a generation of people,” the 32-year-old first-time director told the Canadian Press. Tollman also noted that the Ford character is only “in a few key scenes and a few key moments.”
“I didn’t want to portray Rob in a way that people already imagined him, or in ways he’s already been portrayed in the media…. I think Rob isn’t just a caricature, he’s a person and he’s a human, he had two children and a wife and a family, and he cared very deeply about the city he was the mayor of. And this was a guy with demons,” Tollman said.
“I wanted to show a side of him that people forget about.”
All the characters in the film except for Ford are fictional, but Robyn Doolittle, the journalist whose investigative reporting exposed Ford’s drug use among other scandals in the Toronto Star, wasn’t too happy that a man was cast in the lead role.
Lewis hasn’t revealed what he thinks he’ll bring to the part of Ford, but he did share a tweet after a deadly van attack in north Toronto this week.
“I’m in Toronto this week,” he posted on social media. “What a welcoming, inclusive city it is. And now devastation. I hold hands with you Toronto.”
http://etalk.ca/Movies/April2018/Damian-Lewis-Rob-ford-transformation-photos
Damian Lewis nails Rob Ford look for ‘Run This Town’ | Toronto Sun
 
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’Run This Town,’ a film with Damian Lewis playing Rob Ford, to premiere at SXSW
Canadian Press
Published:
January 17, 2019
Updated:
January 17, 2019 2:38 PM EST
TORONTO — A drama that features a portrayal of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford will make its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
“Run This Town” is in the “Narrative Spotlight” section of the festival, which runs March 8-17.
Tony Award-winning “Dear Evan Hansen” star Ben Platt plays the lead role of a fledgling journalist trying to break a story involving the city’s controversial mayor.
Ford isn’t specifically mentioned in a description of the film on the festival website.
But in an interview from the Toronto set last April, writer-director Ricky Tollman told The Canadian Press that “Homeland” star Damian Lewis was playing Ford in the film.
Tollman stressed it’s not a biopic and that the mayor is actually a fairly minor character.
“This isn’t the Rob Ford story, this is a story about people that I know and people I grew up with and a generation of people,” said the first-time director, who noted the Ford character is only “in a few key scenes and a few key moments.”
He added that he wanted to create “a sympathetic portrait” of Ford and his tumultuous time in office before he died in 2016.
Tollman also said Platt’s character isn’t based on any real-life reporters who covered Ford’s tenure.
Damian Lewis transforms into Rob Ford for ‘Run This Town’
The film’s SXSW synopsis describes Platt’s character as Bram, a new graduate whose journalism dreams are dashed by click-bait assignments and a tough economy.
“After the paper is hit with another round of layoffs, Bram stumbles upon a potentially explosive story involving the city’s controversial mayor,” says the synopsis.
“But he needs to beat the mayor’s smooth talking aide, Kamal, to the punch. This could be Bram’s big break — if he had any idea how to be a real journalist.”
Other cast members include Canadian actors Nina Dobrev, Mena Massoud and Scott Speedman.
http://torontosun.com/entertainment...an-lewis-playing-rob-ford-to-premiere-at-sxsw
 
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