Toronto's former mayor Rob Ford, who recently passed away from a rare form of cancer, made a name for himself outside of his political affiliations. Tabloids were tipped of a video of Ford smoking crack, which eventually went viral and saw the politician make worldwide headlines.
However, his crack smoking was just one piece of a bizarre puzzle, as Ford has also been caught arguing with employees whilst intoxicated, jiving to Bob Marley at work, spewing some particularly racist comments, as well as walking head-first into a news camera. All of these instances helped create a flawed yet fascinating portrait of politician that lacks traditional decorum when its comes to assuming a public and dignified role; Ford can be seen as a proto-Trump in that regard.
Damian Lewis, the actor most notable for his arch on Showtime series Homeland, has been cast as Rob Ford in the upcoming film Run This Town; although, the character will only play a minor role in the production. The film tells the story of a budding journalist and other millennials trying to succeed in a post-recession economy.
The director of the film Ricky Tollman notes how "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," revealing that a fictionalized Ford will only appear in "a few key scenes and a few key moments."