Munro Chambers paints a rosy picture of his new movie "Turbo Kid," despite its post-apocalyptic setting and a fractured humanity that revels in gruesome deaths.
"On the surface it's a post-apocalyptic superhero movie with all the blood, guts and gore, but really it's a charming love story," Chambers tells Headlines & Global News. "This love story between Apple and The Kid is so sweet. It's kind of like a romantic comedy."
Chambers plays The Kid, a teenager who loves comic books and wants to be a real-life superhero. He's presented with that opportunity when he must save the mysterious girl Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), rid the Wasteland of evil and overthrow a savage overlord named Zeus, who kills people with golf clubs.
The 24-year-old actor never pictured himself in such a movie, but he jumped at the chance for a leading role, his first ever in a film. His own penchant for comic books growing up also helped Chambers quickly adapt to his character.
"As a kid, I always liked Batman and The Avengers. [The Kid] kind of becomes like Mega Man in a way," he says.
The RKSS Collective (the writing-directing team of François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell) set "Turbo Kid" in 1997. It may seem like a peculiar time period for a post-nuclear event, but the writers wanted to pay homage to the action, sci-fi '80s that claimed the world would change dramatically before the new millennium.
"It was a very unique film. I've never done anything like it," Chambers says. "When I met the RKSS and saw their passion for The Kid, I gained a whole new respect for the genre."
"Turbo Kid" also gave Chambers the opportunity to attend the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. He didn't have much time to see the other films, but he enjoyed attending his premiere and seeing people's engagement with the movie.
"The fact that it went to Sundance was such an unexpected, amazing surprise. It was such a fun experience filming the movie and we just hope that when people watch it they have fun with us," he says.
After he shot "Turbo Kid" in Montreal, Chambers returned to Toronto to film his final season on "Degrassi." He spent five seasons on the Canadian teen soap as Eli Goldsworthy, a talented writer and sometimes rule breaker with bipolar disorder.
His time on the show coincided with the program receiving three Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Children's Program." Chambers called leaving "bittersweet," but he cultivated many friendships over the years with the cast and crew.
"I grew up with these guys and a couple are my best friends who I hang out with all the time," he says. "I had an amazing time on the show and they gave me huge opportunities, storyline wise. I also got to go to the Emmys with them. In the end it was an incredible experience."
"Degrassi" also introduced Chambers to Feed The Children, a non-profit organization that works to end childhood hunger across the world. He has traveled to five different countries – including India, Ghana, Haiti and Kenya – to help build schools and water-filtration systems, so children and their families don't have to walk far in order to sustain their villages.
His experiences gave him a greater appreciation of people and family as well as the material items most of us take for granted such as cell phones and stores filled with clothes.
"Until you go out there and experience it yourself, you have no idea because it's such a different world," Chambers says. "It's amazing to see their culture wherever you go. You realize how the basis of the person is the same but the way they live... the families in the villages are so happy with their family and religion."
"Turbo Kid" will next screen during the Midnighters program at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas next month.
