Stars not shining for Arnie
2003-09-08 11:57
Los Angeles - Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Cybill Sheperd and Sylvester Stallone are the latest stars in Hollywood's constellation who say they don't want to see fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger move to the California governor's mansion.
"No, I won't vote for Arnold," said Harrison Ford in Berlin, where he was promoting his latest movie with his girlfriend Calista Flockhart.
Tom Hanks was furious when he heard rumours, later denied, that a powerful actors agency planned to support the Terminator's candidacy.
"Tom was furious when [a misleading] article in the Los Angeles Times appeared on Tuesday, saying Creative Artists Agency would help Arnold in his bid for governor," the New York Post said.
"Tom and other power players are absolutely against Arnold becoming governor."
Worst tragedy
For Cybill Sheperd, star of the popular television series Moonlighting, if the muscle-bound Austrian-born action hero were to win the October 7 recall election, "that would be the worst tragedy in the history of California".
"I think that we are the laughing stock of the world, with Arnold Schwarzenegger running [for] governor," Sheperd told Access Hollywood.
"I think he's a real hypocrite," said the actress, who has challenged many of Schwarzenegger's views, in particular his support for abortion rights.
"I think he has a past that is going to come out, and I'm not going to mention what it is, but it's not going to be pretty."
It was unclear whether the actress was referring to an old magazine interview in which Schwarzenegger revealed that during his bodybuilding days he smoked marijuana and took part in orgies.
Sylvester Stallone warned his colleague against politics.
Dangerous waters
"I think it's very dangerous waters," said the star of Rambo and Rocky.
"I personally think actors should remain actors, but I know he's always had blind ambition for that, so maybe it'll work out for him," Stallone was quoted as saying by the BBC, in Venice, where he was attending the 60th Venice Film Festival.
For actor Martin Sheen, the campaign to recall Democratic Governor Gray Davis is a ploy by Republicans to take power in the most populous US state, in a race that has caught attention as much for its weird cast of candidates as for its proximity to the 2004 presidential elections.
"The California recall is an effort to grab the state for the Republicans," said Sheen, who plays US president in the popular US television series West Wing.
"I suspect this came out of the White House," said Sheen, a vocal opponent of President George W Bush's foreign policy.
Celebrated director and actor Woody Allen was more modulated in his opinions on Schwarzenegger's bid for Golden State governor.
No experience
"He's an extremely nice, likeable person. California has many problems and you know, it's hard to imagine that - not having any political background and not having any experience - he would be able to make a big difference there. But you never know."
"I don't think that they (Californians) should be allowed to get rid of the government they have no matter how dissatisfied they are with it in the middle of its term," he told reporters at the festival in Venice where his latest film, Anything Else, was receiving its first screening.
"It's just hard to imagine that the complex problems of the state and the financial trouble that California is in, would not require someone with many more years of political experience," Allen said.
"Still, he is likeable and I'm sure his heart is in the right place."
- AFP