After Ben Affleck‘s Argo was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, several people voiced their concern over the way Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, was portrayed, especially in the postscript of the movie (in which it explains what happened to the main characters involved). Six Americans were hidden by Taylor for months in Iran when violence broke out and 63 Americans were taken hostage. Putting his life at risk, Taylor managed to obtain Canadian passports for the six and smuggled them out of the country to safety. The original postscript said that although American efforts got the hostages out, for political reasons Canada took credit, and implied that Taylor didn’t deserve the 112 citations he received. When Affleck heard about the objections, he called Taylor and invited him to Los Angeles for a private screening of the movie.
Taylor later told the Toronto Star: “I expressed my concern with certain details in the movie. In reality, Canada was responsible for the six and the CIA was a junior partner. But I realize this is a movie and you have to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.” After talking to Taylor, Affleck changed the postscript to read: “The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian embassy to free the six held in Tehran. To this day the story stands as an enduring model of international co-operation between governments.” Affleck and Taylor spent a day together discussing the movie and got along so well that Taylor and his wife Pat were asked to tape a commentary for the extra features on the DVD version of Argo. The Taylors were also invited by Affleck to attend a special screening of the movie in Washington, D.C. on October 10.