In an age when, despite all the evidence to the contrary, celebrities imagine themselves the world’s moral and intellectual paragons, it’s refreshing to hear an actor admit the unspeakable: celebrities aren’t very clever. As I warned BFD readers many moons ago, celebrities aren’t very well educated or informed; they only act that way.
Nonetheless, celebrities take it upon themselves to constantly hector us hoi polloi on the proper way to live and vote. Only a rare few are honest enough to tell the truth. One such rare bird is Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Speaking recently with fellow actor Brad Pitt, for Interview magazine, Hopkins dared speak the plain truth: as an actor, his political opinions are worthless.
People ask me questions about present situations in life, and I say, “I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions. Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything. There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not going to participate.”
Hopkins even managed to admit that the great bête noire of liberalism (at least, pre-Trump) Richard Nixon was just another human being, no better than he.
[He was] neither good or bad, but a man who makes mistakes, as we all do. I found it very emotional to play him, because I could feel what it must have been like, the disgrace of having to resign. And then the humiliation of having to say goodbye […]You can see the pain in him, and you think, “Well, am I better than him? No. I’m not better than him. I’ve got my own immoral quirks.”
interviewmagazine.com/film/anthony-hopkins-talks-to-brad-pitt-about-movies-mortality-and-mistakes
Joining Hopkins in dismissing actors’ imaginary intellectual superiority is, of all people, Mark Wahlberg.
“A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t [talk politics] […]A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family.”
“You know, it just goes to show you that people aren’t listening to that anyway,” he continued. “They might buy your CD or watch your movie, but you don’t put food on their table. You don’t pay their bills. A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/mark-wahlberg-thinks-celebrities-need-shut-politics
“Look, I’ve never gone out and talked about politics. I’m an actor […]Both Republicans and Democrats buy movie tickets.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-wahlberg-id-share-burger-trump-135643061.html
Besides, when celebrities line up to squawk the list of Hollywood-Approved Opinions, chances are they’re lying through their teeth. He might have played at Woodstock, but Jimi Hendrix privately supported the Vietnam War. Fellow rocker Ted Nugent (never shy of sharing his own opinions) is adamant that many celebrities’ private views are very different to what they gutlessly parrot in public, for fear of hurting their career prospects. It’s a rare actor who dares publicly diverge from the Hollywood-left orthodoxy, as Mads Mikkelsen recently did.
But Hopkins is right: actors are pretty stupid as a rule. They’re pretty birds who are paid to sing and dance; they can sing and dance, and keep their stupid, overpaid gobs shut.