Donald Trump has been hailed as a fine actor by none other than screen legend Woody Allen
Donald Trump is something of a man for all seasons. Love him or loathe him, he has a peculiar habit of reflecting back at people everything they long to see in a hero or villain.
Like many fine actors, Trump often comes across as an empty vessel just waiting to be filled with another person’s dialogue and direction.
Trump is often blasted as being all charisma and no substance. Both traits are integral to any actor who wants to go the distance.
Woody Allen may not know a lot about politics, but he knows a lot about actors. He was once one himself, and in 1998, he once directed Trump in the film “Celebrity.”
The Guardian reports that as far as Allen was concerned, Trump was not only “a pleasure to work with,” but “a very good actor.”
“Celebrity” was an ensemble film by Woody Allen, and alongside Trump, it also featured fellow ladies’ man Leonard DiCaprio.
Trump makes the briefest of cameos, but his hulking presence fills every inch of the screen and leaves the viewer breathless and panting for more.
In a scripted segment, Trump is interviewed by a TV reporter about his forthcoming projects.
With his trademark humour and habitual knack of spinning outlandish stories, Trump replies that he’s “working on buying St Patrick’s Cathedral. Maybe doing a little rip-down job and putting up a very, very tall and beautiful building.”
All these years later and it doesn’t seem so much like acting but Trump being Trump.
Speaking on Bill Maher’s Club Random, Allen said that Trump’s “charismatic quality” made him a natural in front of the lens, and he was “pleasant, very professional, very polite.”
Woody also admitted he was surprised that Trump wanted to go into politics.
He explained, “Politics is nothing but headaches and critical decisions, and agony. This was a guy I used to see at the Knicks games, and he liked to play golf, and he liked to judge beauty contests, and he liked to do things that were enjoyable and relaxing. Why anyone would want to suddenly have to deal with the issues of politics is beyond me.”
Although one of the President’s fiercest critics, Bill Maher agreed that Trump had a habit of turning on the charm in person when he’s not busy acting the politician.
Maher told Allen, “Yeah, he’s different in person, and when you say that, people who are purely emotional get very upset, even though it’s just the truth. We’re just saying the truth.”
Woody, who was keen to point out that he voted for Kamal Harris in the 2024 presidential election, explained, “Well, you know, I’m a Democrat. I voted for Kamala Harris. And I take issue with him on, you know, 95% of the things, maybe 99%. But as an actor, he was very good. He was very convincing and very—you know, he had a charismatic quality as an actor.”
He added that although he disagreed with “many, almost all, not all, but almost all of Trump’s politics,” he would like to “direct him now as president and let me make the decisions. But that’s not gonna happen.”
Never say never, Woody. In Trump world anything is possible.
