Kurt Russell: Actors shouldn’t talk politics
Kurt Russell says Hollywood and politics just don’t mix and that actors should “step away from saying anything” political.
“I’ve always been someone who felt we are court jesters. That’s what we do,” the “Furious 7” star said in an interview with The New York Times published Wednesday.
“As far as I’m concerned, you should step away from saying anything so that you can still be seen by the audience in any character,” added Russell, 69.
The performer, promoting his new Netflix film “The Christmas Chronicles” alongside his longtime partner, Goldie Hawn, conceded that there’s “no reason entertainers can’t learn just as much as anybody else about a subject, whatever it is.”
“But I think that what’s sad about it is that they lose their status as a court jester. And I’m a court jester. That’s what I was born to do,” he said.
Hawn pointed out in the joint interview a famed example of an actor-turned-commander in chief.
“I’m just saying [Ronald Reagan] definitely was a well-known actor,” she told the Times. “I think it’s a personal choice whether you want to get into that. The one thing I don’t agree with is that just because we have a platform we always have to use it. That is our choice.”
Russell isn’t the only high-profile entertainment figure to express disapproval of politically outspoken celebrities, albeit for seemingly different reasons. Mark Wahlberg said in a 2016 interview of stars who enter the political fray: “A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t.”
Hollywood, the “Mile 22” star said, is “pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family.”
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