Doc Talk: Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger On Staging “Attempted Coup” Within The GOP, And More From Toronto Film Festival

Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger has become a hero to Democrats for turning on Donald Trump, but it’s come at great personal and political cost.

In a new interview for Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, Kinzinger reveals he, his wife, and their toddler have become the target of constant death threats from Trump supporters after he had the audacity to join the January 6th select congressional committee investigating the former president’s role in the capital insurrection. He says even his parents were subjected to abuse from family members and friends angered by Kinzinger’s principled actions.

We recorded our interview with Kinzinger at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he headed for the world premiere of The Last Republican, the documentary directed by Steve Pink that explores Kinzinger’s evolution from rising GOP star to party pariah. The duo – one a Hollywood liberal, the other a proud conservative — explain how they bonded over Pink’s hit comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. And Kinzinger shares his biggest regret post-January 6th – failing “in essence [to] lead our own coup in the Republican party.”

The latest episode of Doc Talk is jam-packed with conversations in the field at TIFF. Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and director Sue Kim tell us about taking a deep dive with The Last of the Sea Women, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck reveals why he asked actor LaKeith Stanfield to become the voice of a South African photographer for his documentary Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.

TIFF unveiled a bunch of music-themed documentaries. Doc Talk speaks with Thom Zimny about his film Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and recording industry icon Paul Anka, star of Paul Anka: His Way, talks about working with the mob in his early days as a performer and creating Frank Sinatra’s signature tune.

We also sit down with music producer, singer-songwriter and fashion designer Pharrell Williams and Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville for a conversation about their unusual collaboration on Piece by Piece. We say “unusual” because, in the film, Williams, his family, as well as friends and associates Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott and many more are transformed into animated Lego characters. Even the late astronomer Carl Sagan returns in Lego form for the innovative and music-thumping documentary.

That’s on the new episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk, hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s documentary editor. The pod, a 2024 Webby Awards honoree, is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.

Click on the episode above or listen on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.