While some people may grow up dreaming of a career in public office, politicians sometimes come from a less conventional source: Hollywood. There’s a long list of film and television actors who have gone on to roles in politics, including President Donald Trump, who expanded his standing in the public eye as the host of “The Apprentice.”
Al Franken
Al Franken took perhaps the most ironic leap in U.S. politics: going from parodying a U.S. senator on television to actually getting elected as one. Franken was widely known for his time on “Saturday Night Live,” during which he often portrayed former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) during the show’s cold open sketches. But it turns out he wasn’t satisfied with merely pretending to be a politician.
In 2009, Franken became a Democratic senator for Minnesota in a contest that saw “more than 2.9 million Minnesotans cast votes in the state’s U.S. Senate race — one of the most expensive in the country,” said PBS News. After a judicial review, the election ended when Franken “won by 312 votes,” one of the closest Senate races ever. However, Franken’s political career abruptly concluded in 2018 when he resigned after several women said he “groped or tried to forcibly kiss them,” said Politico.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Action star Arnold Schwarzenegger dominated the 1980s in projects like “The Terminator,” “Predator” and “Conan the Barbarian.” But the Austrian-born actor became an “increasingly politically active Republican during the 1990s,” and he “ran for the California governorship and won when Gray Davis was recalled in 2003,” said Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial biography.
Thus, the Terminator became the “Governator,” and despite initial skepticism, proved to be a popular leader of the Golden State. In 2006, despite a “poor year nationally for the GOP, he was re-elected with 56% of the vote” and a “margin of well over 1 million votes,” said Politico. But after this, Schwarzenegger’s popularity waned, and he left office in 2011 “with a record-low 23%” approval rating, only “1% higher than that of Davis when he was recalled.” Schwarzenegger has since taken on an active role in denouncing MAGA and the Trump wing of the GOP.
Clint Eastwood
After getting his start as a major Western star, Clint Eastwood publicly espoused a wide variety of political views, supporting both Democrats and Republicans. “Politics are evidently always simmering with Eastwood,” said The Guardian, though in his later years he became much more associated with the GOP. But even then, his views often remained fluid.
This became even more evident in 1986, when Eastwood was elected the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Though associated with conservative values, during his time as mayor Eastwood was “sympathetic to environmental concerns and less sympathetic to big business,” said The Guardian, bucking traditional GOP tenets. After leaving office, Eastwood remained in the political sphere, most notably the bizarre moment when he “spoke to that empty chair at the 2012 Republican National Convention,” said The Washington Post.
Jerry Springer
While Jerry Springer made several film and television appearances over the years, it was his eponymous television show that made him a household name, often featuring “controversial subjects like adultery, occasional nudity, and even physical violence,” said Biography. But the show was a second career for Springer, who started in the Democratic political arena.
After working as a campaign adviser for Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) in the 1960s, Springer made his way to Ohio and was “elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1971 but unexpectedly resigned in 1974,” said Biography. But the hiatus didn’t last long, as Springer was re-elected to the city council in 1975 and “became Cincinnati mayor in 1977.” Though he only served as mayor for one year before his political career largely fizzled out, Springer “considered runs for the U.S. Senate and a second attempt as Ohio governor in 2018.”
Ronald Reagan
When thinking of actors who turned to politics, there is one name everyone probably thinks of instantly: While other Hollywood stars have held important positions, former President Ronald Reagan is the only one to have occupied the nation’s highest office. But before moving into the Oval Office, Reagan’s career started on screen in 1937, when a contest “won him a contract with Warner Brothers in Hollywood,” said the White House Historical Association (WHCA).
Over the next 20 years, Reagan “appeared in 53 films, including ‘Kings Row’ and ‘Knute Rockne, All American.’” He later turned to politics with a staunch Republican platform, and in 1966 “defeated incumbent Pat Brown to become governor of California, and was re-elected in 1970.” From there, Reagan looked to the national stage, and amid the Democratic Party’s rising unpopularity, he defeated sitting President Jimmy Carter in a landslide during the 1980 election.
Sean Duffy
Several television personalities occupy spaces in President Donald Trump’s White House, most notably Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Before earning his law degree, Duffy “got his TV start in his 20s on ‘The Real World,’ appearing on the Boston edition of the show's sixth season,” said People. This version of the show, as with the other seasons of “The Real World,” followed Duffy and six other strangers who lived together in a converted firehouse in Boston.
After his reality television debut, Duffy “moved into law in his home state of Wisconsin, serving as the district attorney of Ashland County for a decade,” said People. He went on to serve Wisconsin in Congress, “representing the state's 7th Congressional District, from 2011 to 2019.” After winning the 2024 election, Trump nominated Duffy to lead the Transportation Department. Several controversies have marked his tenure.
Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono remains best known for the singing duo he formed with his wife Cher, which made the pair two of the most iconic celebrities of the 1960s. But Bono was also a longstanding member of the Republican Party and was active in GOP politics throughout his life. His entrance into the political sphere came after he “fell almost completely out of the public eye following the cancellation of ‘The Sonny and Cher Show’ in 1977,” said History.
Soon after the show was axed, though, Bono began to make a new name for himself in politics, and he was elected mayor of Palm Springs, California, in 1988. After serving as mayor for four years, Bono “set his sights on national office,” and in 1994 he was “elected to Congress as a representative from California’s 44th Congressional District,” said Biography. While in Congress, Bono became known for his “wit and his deeply conservative views,” and he remains the only member of Congress to have scored a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
