Damian Lewis' Transformation Into Disgraced Mayor Rob Ford Is The Most Interesting Thing You'll See All Day

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At The Playlist, we don’t make it common practice to post set pictures on our site. As we’ve said before, there’s not much to be gained by a set picture, particularly because they’re out of context, sometimes blurry or pixelated, and are hardly ever flattering to the production. However, sometimes, there is a set picture (or pictures, in this case) that are so strange and alarming that we feel it’s our moral duty to share with the world.

For those that don’t know, acclaimed British actor Damian Lewis, best known for his work on the Showtime series “Billions” and “Homeland,” is starring as infamous former Toronto mayor Rob Ford in a new biopic called “Run This Town.” The film, from first-time feature film director Ricky Tollman, sees Lewis play the disgraced politician, who entered the spotlight after a video of him smoking crack cocaine went viral several years ago.

But the reason we’re bringing the film up today is that set pictures of Lewis as Ford have hit social media and frankly, they’re terrifying. You see, Rob Ford and Damian Lewis share next to nothing in common physically, outside of being human males. Ford was significantly larger around the waistline, had completely different hair, and generally resembled bumbling comedian Chris Farley more than the handsome leading man, Lewis.

Two pictures were tweeted recently that show the actor in all his Rob Ford glory. One of the tweets, which is particularly horrifying, shows the actor walking around out of costume, with only the Rob Ford mask on. The juxtaposition of the slim, well-built Lewis with the head of a much larger man is comical at best and haunt-your-dreams scary at worst.

The second photo gives a much clearer picture of what Lewis will look like, fully costumed, as Ford. It’s downright impossible to see Lewis underneath the fatsuit and mask. This isn’t Christian Bale packing on some pounds to play Dick Cheney or Gary Oldman putting on some prosthetics to play Winston Churchill. This is a truly complete transformation.

After these pictures have landed, “Run This Town” is a film that is quickly shooting up our most-anticipated list. It’ll be fascinating to see how the British Lewis gets lost in the makeup to play Canadian Rob Ford.