OTTAWA -- Justin Trudeau hopes the film he's just starred in will remind Canadians of the importance of the past and of the values that brought Canadians together in the First World War, nine decades ago.
"I just hope that we have been able to convey the importance of remembering all the sacrifices we made during that long ago war -- and of remembering the noble values and noble ideas that we were defending in a war that did not even directly affect us."
The Great War, which will air Sunday and Monday on CBC, gives an account of Canadian participation in the First World War, a conflict many historians believe created a sense among Canadians that they indeed formed an independent country.
Trudeau plays war hero Talbot Papineau, a bicultural and bilingual figure, often mentioned as a future prime minister, whose vision of Quebec was as part of a strong and united Canada. He was killed at Passchendaele on Oct. 30, 1917.
Shades of the late Pierre Trudeau, Justin's father?
"To a certain extent, yes," the young Trudeau says by telephone from Montreal. "But I chose to play him, not because he was similar to my father, but because he was similar to me."
He was not alone in this assumption.
When director Brian McKenna and producer Stephen Phizicky were first looking to cast the role of Papineau, they told themselves they needed someone just like Justin Trudeau.
"They later told me they tried a number of people, but none seemed quite right.
"And then Brian McKenna had the inspiration of trying to see if I could read for the role myself."
Trudeau is not a complete novice in the acting game. He taught drama, along with other subjects, for several years at a Vancouver high school.
"But still, I hesitated. But then they sent me the story of Papineau's life and said they were keen to have me, because they thought Papineau and I were similar -- both talkers, with a similar energy."
He noticed Papineau, who was 34 when he was killed, was his age, and had, like Trudeau, an English-speaking mother, a belief in contributing to his country, and a certain heritage around the family name.
(Talbot Papineau was the grandson of Louis-Joseph Papineau, who led the Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837, though he was eventually granted amnesty and continued in political life for several years.)
"I found I could really relate to Papineau," said Trudeau, who has since turned 35. "So I said, 'Sure, I'll do the project.' "
The broadcasts Sunday and Monday mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge which Trudeau, like many historians, believes was a particularly seminal moment in the creation of Canada's sense of nationhood.
He says he was particularly struck by Talbot Papineau's courage and overarching sense of duty.
"You know, he had spent a horrible year on the war front, miraculously escaping death when every other officer he knew had been either injured or killed. He then was promoted behind the lines to report on the war - and did so in a couple of magnificent pieces that brought the reality of Canadian participation forward to the world.
"And then something is triggered inside and he decides he must return to the front, though he knew he was pushing his luck. To me, that is a tremendous display of character and strength."
Talbot Papineau had already been vaunted by Wilfrid Laurier and Mackenzie King as a possible future prime minister.
"So he had to measure his future potential against what he was doing right now to make a difference with his life," Trudeau says. "And I certainly identify with that conflict and with the decision he made."
Trudeau says he is reasonably proud of the acting he did in the film. "In general, I think I did a good job of playing, I guess, myself.
"Of course, everyone being their own harshest critic, there are things I wish I had done differently."
Trudeau, who has announced his intention to seek the Liberal nomination in, ironically, the Montreal riding of Papineau, refused to pronounce on whether the film might have anything to say about Canadian military action in Afghanistan.
"I'm wary about talking about current politics. I don't want to use this project to advance my own agenda."
However, he later adds he'd like Canadians "to reflect more deeply upon where we stand in the world, and what part we want to play in standing up for what we believe."
He has a kind of nude scene - a moment when he and 20 other actors run naked into a river. Looking back, is this one of the moments he would now change?
He laughs. "I don't regret it at all. The scene is what it is, is in character - and it's not even as outre as when Bob Rae jumped nude into the water with Rick Mercer.
"And it doesn't distract from the serious point: That through sacrifice, valour, and playing a role in something bigger, Canada began to develop a sense of identity in the trenches of the First World War - and that we should remember the contributions of those who fought."
Ottawa Citizen
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