The man who helped inspire The Wolf of Wall Street and The Passion of the Christ, Michael Moore, is back with his own documentary, The Death of Donald Trump, which debuts on Netflix in December.
Moore tells The Hollywood Reporter he’s “delighted to return to the project.”
The film follows Moore’s journey from the 1990s to the current day, including his recent film on the rise of Donald J. Trump, the rise and fall of the Trump Administration, the 2016 election, and his personal battle with breast cancer.
Moore spoke with THR about how he got into politics, why he’s so passionate about this election, his take on Trump, and the importance of staying involved in politics.
How did you get into politics?
My mother was a Democrat.
I grew up a Republican, so I thought the Democrats were the party of the little guy.
I was raised in a house where everyone else was Republican, and they were always the party who would vote for you.
I voted for John Kerry because I thought he was the only candidate who would help me get out of debt, and I had to do that.
I had been trying to get out, and then the next thing you know I’m like, Oh my God, I have cancer.
What was the first election you were involved in?
I was a political junkie growing up.
I went to the Democratic Party convention, and that was the big thing, the biggest thing, for me, was the convention, because I got to see the first debate, and it was just so weird.
The Republicans had their own debate and then there was all this noise.
The debate was about Donald Trump.
It was a huge show.
There was like, All right, I got a chance to be the face of a political party.
I thought that was really cool, and all of a sudden, this is the biggest party of my life, and now I’m in it?
What was your reaction?
It was like a slap in the face.
It felt like the first time I’d been to a party where I wasn’t there.
The Democrats had all these big conventions.
You don’t get to watch it live.
It’s not like you’re in the room with people, and you’re there with the cast and crew and everyone else.
There were all these great people, so you just kind of get to sit there and enjoy it.
The whole thing was just amazing.
What is it about the Donald Trump era that you think he is the most successful president?
I think he’s the most divisive president in American history, and there are a lot of people who think he does a lot worse than other presidents.
What’s the biggest challenge facing him now?
He’s going to have to fight the same way he’s going through the impeachment process.
How are you going to keep going?
I have the greatest hope for America.
If I can make sure I can keep working, I will.
I have to keep trying to make sure that I’m doing what I can to help Americans and that I am not doing anything that hurts their economy.
There’s always a chance that he’ll go down.
What do you hope people will take away from The Death Of Donald Trump?
There’s a lot in there that is very important.
I hope that people can get over the initial shock of hearing about what he did.
You had the chance to make that film and see how his career really took off and his life took off, and to see how people were reacting.
It wasn’t just that people were cheering and screaming and jeering, but they were supporting him.
They were going, What’s going on with him?
I don’t think people were as shocked as they were in the beginning.
What are your thoughts on the future of Donald and his administration?
I’m still optimistic.
He’s still president, and he’s still running the show.
I think they’ll do the right thing, and we’ll get through it.
He needs to do the proper job.
What can you tell us about the special effects for The Death?
I got this idea for the film when I was watching The Wolf Of Wall Street in theaters.
I said, What do we have to do to get that movie made?
And I asked my friends to come up with the special effect for it, and everyone said, We have to get it done, and my friends said, Well, we have no money for that.
But I’m trying.
So I said: I’m going to use my own money.
The special effects people and I did it.
I didn’t even think of the budget.
We shot it, then I said I’m not going to do it.
It didn’t cost a dime.
They just did the special, and as we were finishing it, I said We’re done.
And it’s really beautiful.
What did you find most interesting about this Trump era?
When he was president, there was