Mayor Olivia Chow guest stars in "Law & Order Toronto" episode

Mayor Olivia Chow guest stars in this week's "Law & Order Toronto" episode

CityTV/Olivia Chow

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is set to appear in this week’s Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, making her acting debut in the new series’ latest episode airing on May 2.

Episode 8 of the show’s premiere season, titled “Boys Will Be Boys,” centres around a local hockey star found dead on the ice following a hazing scandal. In the episode, Chow plays a friend of Inspector Vivienne Holness, played by Karen Robinson.

blogTO sat down with Olivia Chow to discuss her first on-screen role (aside from news cameras) and what the new show represents for the city’s on-camera identity.

“It is my acting debut,” Chow tells blogTO, though she joked that she “failed miserably,” laughing before saying (in a very humorous tone of voice) that she “may not do it again.”

When pressed on whether this new acting foray could lead to a future career pivot for the mayor, Chow laughed, saying, “I think I’ll keep my day job.”

When asked for possible plot spoilers, Chow said, “I can’t give it away,” though she confirmed that she had a great time working with the cast for her first television role.

Chow is also quite impressed with the show’s use of local landmarks and references, saying the Toronto-centred plotlines are “fabulous, because every Thursday evening I get to say, ‘Oh, I know that!'” of local settings. She also explained that she is happy to see Toronto play itself for once instead of standing in for US cities.

As for the types of stories she’d like featured in future episodes, Chow tells blogTO she is a big fan of the “David and Goliath” type plots, like an underdog “tackling a big multinational corporation and winning, and there’s a murder in there somewhere!”

The mayor notes that her connection to the entertainment industry remains mostly political, stating that she is “going down to LA to promote our film industry” and taking a moment during the interview to highlight the impressive growth of the film and television production biz in the city.

The episode, airing on CityTV on Thursday, May 2, is the first appearance of a sitting mayor on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent. However, the show has already famously featured a fictionalized version of former Mayor Rob Ford in an episode based on his crack-smoking scandal.

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