Responsible for the greatest political upset in history. You are a fighter, jane. Im giving you another shot at the title. It is a president ial campaign in south america. A fragile democracy. An economy that is in real trouble. Our candidate is considered arrogant and out of touch with peoples lives. How far are you behind . 28 points. The opposition has hired their own american, pat candy. Jane bodine, what are you doing here . I thought you retired, or gave up, or something. What happened to your hair . You still have a great sense of humor. How many times have you gone against candy . Three or four times. How many times has he beaten you . Three or four times. We will have to take risks. If security beats you up, you are doing your job right. Get the beating on tape. Wake up. There is only one wrong in this only one, and that is losing. [whispering] check and see if anybody understood that. [speaking spanish] gracias. You should feel something during the interview tears turned could you just turn towards the camera. Look at him. This is it. Five points up. If i lose to candy now, i swear to god. This kind of matters, jane. This country could go under. We are talking about peoples lives. You like to pretend youre not one of us. If you fight with monsters too long, you become a monster. Is this your neighborhood . Where you live . People are going to get hurt. What are you going to do . Were trying to save peoples lives. These are the stakes. I am not going to stand by and watch as this nation falls apart. This is no longer an election. This is a crisis. We are going to shoot the commercial, por favor. This animal will lead us to prosperity. He killed himself rather than be in one of our commercials. [laughter] sandra no animals were injured during the making of this film. Charlie they say that again. [laughter] sandra no animals were injured during the making of this film. No llamas, no dogs, no people. Well charlie debatable. Here is the most interesting part for me i know you know i love politics and the people this is based on. The role was first thought of for george clooney. Sandra they developed it. Charlie george might play the main character. Sandra it was with them for about five years and nothing was happening. It crossed my table. I read it, and i thought it would be better for me. [laughter] charlie he would rather float off into space than be with you . Sandra exactly. First you kill me, then you take my script. He very generously had no problem, no issue with the idea. Charlie the more important thing it seems to me women looking for interesting roles, they do not necessarily have to be for men. Sandra everyone is looking for a role that is not conventional, but can still tell the story and move people. When i read it, it just had words, thoughts, competitions of a human being that i thought i would like to play Something Like this. This would be an amazing opportunity. Charlie why is that . Sandra it is multidimensional. She is imperfect. She is not very pleasant and likable at first. You can pass judgment on why she is that way. Then you see deeper and deeper into this flawed person and you have sympathy because you see her struggling, and i think that represents everybody. You know, we all want the brass ring, but we are all struggling for it, probably for the wrong reason. Charlie this is an act of revenge for her . Sandra yes, a combination of revenge, and, i think, an extreme addiction to win. Billy bob thornton is used at the dangling carrot. She it almost killed her the first time. They pulled her back in. Charlie zoe, who do you play . Zoe i am brought in by sandras character to dig up dirt. Charlie she looks so sandra she has that angelic demeanor. Charlie i would not do this, you would. Sandra and she will cut you. Well, not you. Charlie this is based in part on a reallife story because we have american Political Consultants who have gone out in fact, two who helped president obama get elected or elected represented different parties in the most recent british election, as you well know. Sandra it is loosely based on a documentary called our brand is crisis, where they follow consultants that do just that. It is a job here they are hired it is a job. They are hired to do a job. Their hearts are in that job for that moment and when the job is complete, the clock is punched out and most move on. My question and my thoughts is anyone affected by the consequences of that job . Charlie the consequences of being a political sandra not just in politics. Charlie any institution. Sandra in all big business, you want to push a product, cell convince the public, manipulate them, so they do what you want, purchase what you are selling. We have so much of it everywhere in the world. You turn on the tv, and you must say i need that to make life better, but these consultants do it for a job, a position. They are hired to go down and make sure this man wins. Charlie and tell us what a challenge it was to help make this man win. Zoe well, we have a candidate who has previously done bad things for his country or caused civil unrest. Charlie terribly low poll ratings. Zoe very low poll ratings, and there is a line in the film on how they were in desperate need of a change and we are feeding them the same and that got them killed last time. We see the brilliance of her character because she manages to turn that around. Charlie what does she do . Zoe by addressing what is in front of her at the beginning of the film before jane voting bodine comes in, they are trying to sell the candidate as something he is not, and she comes in and says you have to sell him for what he is, and she also says the line that gives us our title, where she says we need to frame the selection not as an election, but as a crisis our brand is crisis. Charlie how do you do that . Zoe it is a scare tactic, and our characters do that in the film. It is employed every day in the media. Sandra fear it is a powerful thing that can help you get results in a way many things cannot. Charlie and you are saying you know hollywood executives just like this . Sandra yes, but i do not think they have that level of power. The difference zoe said it really well. Hollywood is for entertainment, a job, to make money. You can choose whether to see a movie or not. This is peoples lives, peoples futures their childrens future. It is about somebody vying for a job a highpowered important job that, if not chosen well, there are grave consequences. Charlie what is it that makes her good . Sandra what makes her good is that, unfortunately, her addiction is to win, and for her the thrill of the win is one of her addictions. They knew that by dangling the Billy Bob Thornton character in front of her. They knew they were igniting the addict. She cannot go fullblown on the win. Charlie if she goes fullblown, she could win . Sandra she uses tactics that are unorthodox. There is a sad line they say she is disposable, she does not have family or children, not of value under other than she will go rogue. If she does them, and they are successful, good on jane, and if she does not, and she brings shame, shame on her and they can dispose of her. Charlie are you like her you are called in to do the dirty work. Zoe i thought about her as someone that is used to using her brain in a neutral way, that is ammoral, sort of outside of the bounds of morality. I think a lot of these people have stopped thinking about whether what they are doing is good or bad. I think she thinks about the job as being just that a job. I think part of what the film is about is how jane, sandras character, stands apart from these operatives in her dawning consciousness. Charlie who calls her Calamity Jane . Sandra everybody calls her Calamity Jane because of the degree of chaos she brings to every candidate she is back in. That is what makes her unorthodox, tricky, valuable, and a liability. You know, theres a lot of risk. Charlie if she is on the campaign, she wants labanc with her. Sandra that is what i love, she brings in this smart, understated person. You see how smart she is in recruiting her, finding out this information. Charlie what is her attraction to candy . [laughter] sandra i saw your eyes. You can edit. Charlie [laughter] sandra her attraction to candy is what you see as a moviegoer when you watch him in this role. He is evil and sinister on one level, and on another level you love him. He respects her. She, him, but he respects her in a different way because he can distance himself. He can do the job, punch out the clock, go get a drink. Charlie and her sandra for her, it is personal because he goes after her on a personal level, a deeply personal level. It is interesting because it does make you think of people that grow a conscience, have consciousness, and look at the consequences, and what people can look at it as a job and move on. Charlie is it rare to see a leading female actor play a role written for a man . Sandra yeah. Charlie it is rare, and you hope it will send a trend that growth will not necessarily be gender, innocence, age, or nationality . Sandra that would be a beautiful thought. Angelina jolie in salt, that was written for a man. Emily blunt is getting ready to play something that was written for a man. Charlize theron some things are genderspecific. That has to be a woman or a man, but it is kind of nice to think that the mindset will be expanded and the openmindedness will stay and not be a trend. We go, well, you have this, and it was not working. What if we thought about this as a male or female, it instead of a female or male and maybe it will breathe new life to it and give it more perspective. Charlie with the academy and Everything Else are you where you want to be . Sandra i am so where i want to be. People say, what next . After gravity, there is nothing else to do, unless there is something i want to say. I do not do things for money. I do not do things because i know they will be wildly successful. Nobody thought gravity would be wildly successful. Charlie you do them for what . Sandra this i did because i was thinking about the essence of this film communities getting together for peaceful public protest for issues and change, and are we too complacent, and do we feel to scared to step out of our comfort to do that. Am i too scared . Would i do it for my son, absolutely, but what i do it for the greater good of people i do not know . When you look back 40, 50 years, see people sacrificing, that has been on my mind a lot. I did not realize something was missing until he entered my life. Charlie what is that . Sandra i do not know. I barrel forward. I am grateful for what i have and what i dont have i obviously do not need. When you have something that is so full of life, and all of a sudden your life is going this way, and you make a sharp right, you see things in a different light, different routes, different opportunities. Things become more important and less important. You know, i am lucky. I can stay home with my son and watch him grow. I know there are families out there that are like i would rather stay home with you then have to go work two jobs just so i can spend three hours with you at dinner, and i think about that and i grieve, because i cannot do that. Just being gone from him these last three days it is torture. Well, i am being a little melodramatic. Charlie i know, but it is fine here. What have you learned from her . Sandra you can tell him what you learned not to do. [laughter] charlie lets start there. Zoe go ahead. Charlie i do not know anyone that is more fun and spontaneous than this lady, but as an actress, you understand more about that than i do. Zoe i learned so much from watching sandy on set the way she came into a scene, even a scene on a page that looks like nothing, two people entering the room before the scene starts, she finds a way to bring her creativity to that in a way that was not about trying to make herself look better, but to make the movie better. She thinks so much like a storyteller at all times. Little things you see in the movie like her entering the room and her bag gets caught on the handle of the door, and she goes to give a speech and her foot goes through the chair she brought all of this physical comedy. Sitting in toronto and watching the movie with an audience, every time one of those Little Things happened i could feel the audience leaning forward, leaned towards her, and it is a hard character to like. I thought it was so smart to have these little drops. Her status dropped in these tiny moments. You felt free to laugh at her, but you felt like you were on her side. Everyone has a moment where their foot goes to a chair metaphorically or physically. Can i have your attention, please . Everyone we are going to do something to rivera that no politician wants to have done to him were going to define him. The tagline is he is a crook, he is corrupt, inexperienced, and he lies. Everyday we are going to ring and we are going to spoonfeed the rivera story every quote he has given, every person he has met, and look for ways of using it against him, and if anybody has any qualms about this, think that is wrong in some way, you come and talk to me. Ok . If anyone has any problems about this, i will rent you a nice set of balls, because there is only one wrong in this, only one that is losing. [whispering] maybe check and see if anybody understood that . [speaking spanish] zoe and also the way sandy conducts her self, everyone enjoys being in her company, but the way she treats everyone as so equal i know from talking to her she thinks about the world that way, but a movie like that a movie set can be very stressful, especially when you are the lead, the executive producer, it can be hard to keep your cool and feel there is space for everyone and space for me to keep my work. The way she did that for everyone and at home is inspiring. Charlie do you want to be a filmmaker . Zoe she is a filmmaker. Sandra i think he means director. [laughter] charlie no, i mean the whole package. Sandra i have no desires to direct. I directed a short film. I like working with a group more than i like being in front of the camera. I like collaborating, debating, offering a final result. I love the timeline, the ticking clock. Charlie theres nothing about you that needs to be a star . Sandra no, absolutely not. It is weird. Im in this position, and i try to look at it these days as such a blessing. I feel uncomfortable in the light. I do not feel secure in the light. I feel empowered and excited in the group, introduction. That is why i think, i, sort of, just tested the waters to see if i could do producing again and be the mom i want to be. Charlie and you found out . Sandra i love that. There are more boundaries now than when i was free and now have the ball and chain. [laughter] but life was not as good. Charlie [laughter] let me make sure i understood what ball and chain meant. Sandra my son. [laughter] sandra that ball and chain grounded me, it said i can do this if the parameters are met, and they were. We were able to make a beautiful film on the budget we were given, in the timeline we were given, when no one is making these kinds of films anymore. I want to make a film like this. I want to inspire people. I want to make them feel and laugh. So we can keep making them. I do not want them to break box office records. I just want them to continue being made. Charlie did you film it in bolivia . Sandra primarily in new orleans. [laughter] charlie that is bolivia to me. Sandra it was bolivia in the movie. We had a second unit crew who went to bolivia. Charlie did you talk to any of these guys, men and women that are political strategist, gurus, spin masters, all of that . Sandra we seem to be surrounded by them. Charlie like James Carville . Sandra ive only seen him i only see in the back of his head at family dinners in new orleans. George and grant, they know them personally. That is their world. Charlie that is their world. Sandra we know those people. Again, it is not just politics. To me, this was not about politics, it was about the almighty win, and how lost we have gotten in the acquisition of it. Charlie would you like to work with george again i hit the question sandra i would. We both knew each other before we had jobs. No jobs. Charlie did you date . Sandra no, we never dated. Charlie what is wrong with you . Sandra he helped me date a friend. He threatened the friend saying if you dont take her, i will, but george and i are separated at birth. We are the same person. We would kill each other. Charlie he is the same way with julia, isnt he probably nobody like you. Sandra you do not have to date everyone to love them. We have smartly stayed away from that pool. Charlie can i quote you on that . Sandra would you, please . That is pretty good. [laughter] sandra i want to start an offshoot company. Zoe yeah, hallmark. Charlie and then you can say you know, believe me, my beloved son is like a ball and chain. Sandra a ball and chain. Charlie that will do it, too. [laughter] sandra thank you. I have a side business. Zoe you have to give him a cut of that. Charlie absolutely. Maybe, maybe not. What do i have to do to get my 10 . Zoe 5 . [laughter] charlie i will have you be my agent. What is the message of this film . Sandra i think winning is everything. You need to make the change, if you find whatever rather know you have gotten in life is killing you, getting off the carousel is hard, daunting, the unknown, but you just have to get off. Charlie so, this is a catharsis for her . Sandra big time. That is what i love about the quotes. She is always keeping people at a distance, quoting other people, keeping them at a distance in her own words. I realized we had no quotes that were by a woman. I was like female quotes, inspiring quotes that put a spotlight on the end scene without having us overtalk it, and i came across the road if you dont like the road you are on, start paving another one. Charlie who said that . Sandra dolly parton. [laughter] sandra did we say dolly parton and have the humor no, we let it sit. Charlie have you ever been in a rabbit hole . Sandra daily. Im serious. To me, the rabbit hole is questioning your authenticity, allowing yourself to be swayed by public opinion, your neighbors opinion, or your own thoughts, and mine can be very loud, and then waking up and realizing i have completely gone off the road i was supposed to be on. That is daily. If you are not honest about it, it becomes shameful. I am easily swayed. I go wait, that is not where im supposed to be. This is my road. Charlie why dont you write a book . Sandra because it would put people to sleep. All about me. Wasnt that Katharine Hepburn . I will never write a book. Never. Charlie you have a lot to say. Sandra it is empty words and stale airspace. Charlie ok, make a movie. Sandra i just did it. [laughter] sandra that is why we are here with you. You are impossible. Charlie you mean if you did not have a movie to sell, you would not be sitting at this table . Sandra exactly, you never invite me when i am just at home you never say tell us what you think, enlighten us. Have you ever asked me to enlighten you . Charlie never. Sandra why would you ask . Me to ask me to write a book . You are a showman. A politician. I