Original-Cin Q&A: Run This Town's Nina Dobrev and Mena Massoud talk Rob Ford and millennials

When Run This Town was shot in Toronto almost two years ago, the project was shrouded in secrecy. 

The film, written and directed by Ricky Tollman, presents a fictionalized version of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s crack-smoking scandal. It follows a young struggling journalist (Ben Platt) looking for his big break and a group of political staffers who become entangled in the monumental story.

Ford is played by British actor Damian Lewis (say what?) completely unrecognizable under mounds of latex. The film also stars Toronto’s own Scott Speedman, Nina Dobrev and Mena Massoud (Aladdin).  

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke to Mena Massoud and Nina Dobrev during their quick stop back home to promote the film. 

Read Jim Slotek’s review of Run This Town HERE.

Kamal (Mena Massoud) sits in for his boss Mayor Rob Ford in a mock council debate in Run This Town

ORIGINAL-CIN:  There are many levels to this film. On one hand we have a budding journalist trying to break his first big story and on the other it focuses on a group of millennials working for a Mayor who is completely out of control.  There is no question that Rob Ford is the conduit to the story butI wanted to know what your initial reaction was to this script. 

MENA MASSOUD: “I just loved it . I loved all the themes in the script like you mentioned. You know, Rob Ford is a big part of the story, but he's kind of the vehicle that we use to drive the story forward. So I think for me it's more about the Immigrant story,  the millennial story and the struggles of those groups of people. 

“There’s a polarizing difference between Bram, Ben Platt’s character and  Kamal, the guy that I play and the two families they come from.  So for me it was about a lot more than just Rob Ford.”

Nina Dobrev in Run This Town

NINA DOBREV: “I agree, it wasn’t the Rob Ford element that hooked me initially.  He's on the poster but if you look at it closely you notice that he is distorted. It's not necessarily his story, and he was able to do some great things, but he was also very self-destructive and it was interesting to see that. 

“What I loved is that the city of  Toronto is really the lead character of this film and I love that. We got to highlight the city and show the city instead of hiding it. I’ve shot a lot of films here where they ended up deleting the CN tower out of the background so it was nice to not only shoot here but feature of the city.”

OC: Let's go back to the millennial aspect of the story because both of your characters have some pretty awful experiences that they endure to keep their jobs. Sometimes we overlook treatment in our workplace because we have to pay the bills. How do you feel about that? 

DOBREV: “Everybody is just trying to make a living and trying to make ends meet for themselves or their family. And so, in this film, these kids are having to put up with some pretty awful treatment in the workplace. That's not acceptable, but they don't really have another option. They've gone to school and got these degrees and done all the hard work. But then they don't have the opportunities on the other end. So it's unfortunate but  sadly that's the reality.”

MASSOUD: “It happens to everyone every day. And I think, depending on what your background is, you have to endure more of it.  I think this film speaks to that.  

“Bram is a journalist who kind of gets his job because of his parents and they have connection. And my character Kamal, who is Ford’s right hand man, is in this predicament where he can't really say anything because he's an immigrant and he's come through this and it's kind of like, ‘You have to shut up and do your job because you should feel lucky like that you're in this position.’”

OC:  There is an extremely uncomfortable scene in the film where Rob Ford comes to his office extremely drunk and high and just berates all of his staff.  He is disgusting and completely out of line, but especially with your character Nina. How did you feel shooting that because I was really uncomfortable watching it. 

DOBREV: “What you saw on screen was not acting on my part.  It was really uncomfortable to shoot that, and Damian apologized to me many times after we shot it.  He felt terrible for having to do it. It was very cringe-worthy for sure.” 

 OC:  Damian is unrecognizable under the prosthetics and make up. What was it like when you saw him for the first time because i have to say it was pretty shocking when I first laid eyes on him. 

MASSOUD: It was pretty shocking for sure, just because he doesn't look anything like himself and I think the prosthetic team did a good job of making it feel uncomfortable. When you see this person you're kind of thrown off by it. But I think it's done on purpose. You kind of feel like there's something that doesn't feel right about this human being. So it was weird, and Damian's just very different in real life.”

DOBREV: “His voice, his accent the way he sounded was a lot like Rob. I thought he did a really good job and did a lot of prep work for that.” 

OC:  Mena.. now that you have dabbled in politics on the big screen, any chance you might trade in acting for some real life politics? 

MASSOUD: “Not a chance. Besides, there’s plenty of politics going on in Hollywood for me to worry about.”