What's interesting is you just came from South Africa,
where we don't have the coronavirus right now.
-I left the only safe place on the planet. -Yeah, yeah.
-Yeah. -You did. And then I-- Like, I came to America,
and now my friends from back home, they're like,
"Oh, yeah, yeah. Who's got viruses now?"
(laughing)
So, welcome back from your whirlwind.
I-I don't even know how you're here.
I don't know how you're awake. You've been in South Africa
shooting a movie. You've been there for how long now?
-Uh, I was there since the-- mid-January, probably. -Right.
-Over a month. -And you seem like-- From your Instagram,
it seems like you've been having the time of your life.
It feels like I haven't been on set at all.
I've just been traveling and playing with animals
and-and it-it's-- I-I love where you're from so much.
I might move there. I might-- We might have to switch places,
-and I'm-I'm gonna become a resident. -Oh, yeah, yeah.
I don't-- And you visit my mom and tell her everything's good
-and then-- Yeah. This is a great deal. -Exactly.
This is a great deal. Um, then you-- then you flew out
to London. You flew out to Paris.
You-You've been, like, on a-- Then you started,
-like, following the coronavirus around. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Now you're back in the U.S. -I might be the--
Yeah, I might be the one spreading it, actually,
-so beware. -No, no, no. No, 'cause you're behind it.
I can vouch for you. You're behind it.
-It was there before you. -Cool, cool, cool.
Um, but you're back
and you're here to talk about, uh,
a new film that you're in,
um, predominantly about Rob Ford
-uh, uh, the mayor from Toronto. -Yes.
Really controversial figure.
And this is-- this is a fascinating story,
because he was-- he was a figure that was larger than life.
-Mm. -And he-he was really--
You know, I mean, a lot of people would say, like,
he was a bad man. But it seemed
like people treated him more like a joke
than-than as a problem and as a politician.
Tell us a little bit about the story
and-and why you chose to be a part of this film.
Yeah, I mean, it's, uh-- I'm Canadian,
and, uh, the film is about politician Rob Ford,
like you pointed out. And he was--
I thought it was an important story to tell
mainly because, in a way, he was like a precursor,
he was, like, foreshadowing what was about to happen
below America's hat. Is that what it's called?
-Right. -Yeah. We're the hat, right?
You-you think he was a foreshadow to Trump?
Well, in a way, yeah. I mean, he--
Everyone thought he was entertaining and hilarious
and weird and they didn't take him seriously.
-And yet he did all these things. -Mm-hmm.
And, um, I-I don't know.
I just feel like we sh-- it was like a warning
-that nobody really listened to. -Right.
And it's-it's like a cautionary tale
that we just need to be more aware of,
especially now going into the next election.
It-it really is interesting, because he was larger than life.
He was charismatic in his own way.
-He was funny. He knew how to spin the news. -Mm-hmm.
And you play an interesting character
who's one of the people affected by Rob Ford,
-um, a character who's based on a real-life person. -Mm.
Because Rob Ford had women who worked in his campaign
and he was accused of saying horrible things to them,
doing h-horrible things to them.
Your character plays one of these women
who is almost forced to work in this environment
because she can't find a job.
When you're-- when you're preparing for this role,
there are so many things that are going through your mind.
How do you inform yourself about how this character
is going to be played?
Well, I mean, I-I did my research as much as I could.
-And, yes, she's loosely based on a real person. -Mm-hmm.
But, in general, I mean, so many people are going to school
and getting all these a-amazing degrees
and studying so hard and then they can't find work
-in their area of expertise. -Yeah.
And, in her case, she worked for Rob Ford,
and she didn't really have it--
Like, she-she was in a--
She was between a rock and a hard place, essentially.
She wanted to do what was right, but she needed to make money.
And she had-- She felt like she had to be in this situation
-where she was being harassed in the workplace. -Mm-hmm.
And that conversation, obviously, has been highlighted,
and it's changing slowly.
But this woman, in real life,
I mean, she stood up for herself and left the situation
and didn't want to take this abuse anymore.
And she was, in a way, a bit of a pioneer
for the movement that happened many years later.
It's-it's a powerful story.
You-you play the character well.
-Thank you. -If-if you are-- if you are looking
at a story like this, some people may gravitate
towards, like, the sadness of the story.
"I can't believe this happened. This is so sad."
But there is-- there is a triumph in it.
What-what would you say that is for you?
I think that the people--
I mean, hopefully, we can just get everyone
that is voting right now.
-I mean, tomorrow is the big day, right? -Right.
-Super Thursday. -Yeah. Super Thursday, as--
-Yeah. Yeah. (chuckles) -(laughs)
So, if anything, like, whatever your opinion is,
whatever you believe in, just get out there and actually vote.
Like, we need-- Every election is just as important
as the next. And so I think that we have--
We all have voices and we all have opinions
and we're entitled to them.
And as long as people go out
and-and believe in what they believe in and fight for it,
then that's, like-- We just need to get to the polls.
-Get to the polls. -(cheering and applause)
Thank you so much for being on the show.
Beautiful performance.
-And say hi to my mom. -I will.
Run This Town will be in theaters and on demand March 6.
Nina Dobrev, everybody.