Actors who weren't afraid to get political in 2019

Fonda has been a political activist forever. That has not changed as she’s gotten older. The legendary actress is still willing to hit the streets. In 2019 she was arrested multiple times during protests. It actually briefly became a recurring event to see which celebrities were getting arrested alongside her at protests.

Danson was one of the folks to be arrested with Fonda. The photos were pretty delightful, as the “Cheers” and “The Good Place” star had a big smile on his face. Danson is not new to climate change and environmental activism. He actually co-wrote a book back in 2011 about the danger our oceans are in.

Some huge movie stars, and the erstwhile Captain America is definitely a massive star, worry about rankling some of their fans by getting political. Evans is not one of those people. He routinely takes to Twitter to espouse his political feelings, many of which feature him talking smack of Donald Trump. Naturally, this has led to some blowback, but Evans remains unbowed. Given that he has almost 11 million Twitter followers, having somebody like him being overtly political will touch a lot of bases.

Sarandon has caused ardor for her political decisions in the past. For example, in the 2016 election she voted for Jill Stein of the Green Party, as Hillary Clinton was evidently not her speed. The Best Actress winner has her hands in all sorts of political issues, such as women’s rights and gun violence. Sarandon is also currently stumping for Bernie Sanders and also getting into feuds with Debra Messing for that Stein vote.

If you aren't familiar with CPAC, it's the Conservative Political Action Conference, a big event for Republican types. Most of the people there are politicians, but Sinise spoke at it earlier this year.

You can’t be apolitical these days. Ellen is proof of that. She recently found herself in hot water when she was pictured hanging out with George W. Bush. DeGeneres tried to defend herself on her show, saying that he’s friends with all sorts of people. This didn’t satisfy her detractors, who didn’t want her buddying up with the former president.

Who would have guessed somebody named “America” would get political? Ferrera is quite well-respected in political circles, as she was the opening speaker at the Women’s March in Washington in 2017, and in 2018 spoke she at the Families Belong Together Protest. The daughter of Honduran immigrants, Ferrera is obviously deeply invested in the ongoing issues with immigration that plagued this country in 2019.

Recently DiCaprio was weirdly implicated by the president of Brazil in the fires raging through the Amazon rainforest. Meanwhile, in America, DiCaprio has been outspoken about climate change and has blamed President Trump for his role in the issue, particularly his withdrawing from the Paris climate accords.

Ruffalo may not turn into the Hulk when he gets mad, but he’s not shy about voicing his political opinions, especially when somebody makes him angry. You know a guy has stirred the pot when he has a “Political Activism” section on his Wikipedia page. He has voiced his support for both Bernie Sanders and Britain’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Also, remember that Ellen thing? Ruffalo was one of those against her.

In 2019 Louis-Dreyfus finished her tremendous run as Selina Meyer on “Veep.” That’s not enough to get Elaine Benes on this list though. She has spoken out against President Trump, calling him a “pretend president.” Hey, she would know, having pretended to be president on her HBO show that won her multiple Emmys.

Schumer is not, ahem, a “Trainwreck” when it comes to her political activism. She’s apparently a fan of Elizabeth Warren, as she has donated quite a bit of money to her campaign. The standup has been involved politically for quite some time and has put her money, or at least her criminal record, on the line. In 2018, Schumer was arrested protesting Brett Kavanaugh being nominated for the Supreme Court.

Admittedly 2018 is the year of Nixon’s big political statement. She wasn’t just an activist. She also actually ran for Governor of New York. However, though she didn’t win that nomination, she remains politically active, both in New York and nationally, especially when it comes to LGBT issues.

If you follow Reiner on Twitter, you get a heaping helping of political talk. He’s constantly on there talking down President Trump and talking up his liberal views. In terms of the 2020 election, the ”Stand By Me” and “This Is Spinal Tap” director has endorsed Joe Biden. He even hosted a fundraiser that brought in a whopping $700,000. Amazingly, Reiner’s father Carl, in his 90s, is also on Twitter often tweeting political things.

People think of Paltrow more as the “Goop” lady or the person who tried to make “conscious uncoupling” a thing. She also, funnily enough, starred on a show called “The Politician” in 2019. Like Reiner, Paltrow also hosted a big Democratic fundraiser in 2019. Hers was for Pete Buttigieg, though, and not Biden.

Some people support a politician, while others REALLY support a politician. It should come as no surprise that Dawson is behind Cory Booker in the 2020 presidential campaign. After all, the actress happens to be in a relationship with him. If Booker’s campaign was going better, she could be en route to being the First Lady.

Jacobs is primarily known as being a pro wrestler. You may know him as Kane or perhaps Isaac Yankem, the wrestling dentist. He has done acting in films, though, mostly of the horror variety. These days, we reckon the 7-foot Jacobs is the tallest mayor in the country. Jacobs currently serves as the major of Knox County, Tennessee.

When you are a living legend like De Niro, you can get away with saying almost anything you want. Unfortunately, sometimes the stuff the iconic actor says involves anti-vaccination views. His other big talking point seems to be his contempt for President Donald Trump, who he disparaged while promoting his latest film, “The Irishman.”

Hollywood is a  liberal place but not an entirely liberal place. There are Republicans in the mix, and that includes Allen. While the former “Home Improvement” star has called himself more of an anarchist than a conservative, he seems to lean more toward conservative. Either way, it’s political. In 2019, Allen also spoke out about the “thought police” out there that is ruining comedy with political correctness.

Grammer played a Republican on “The Simpsons” in Sideshow Bob. While the “Frasier” star has never tried to rig a mayoral election or kill a 10-year-old, Grammer and his character share a political viewpoint. While others have turned on President Trump, Grammer is still supporting him, saying he’s doing a good job and calling the politicians of Washington a “bunch of clowns.” A contempt of clowns is another thing Grammer and Sideshow Bob have in common.

Swanson is the original Buffy from the first “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” movie. Now what she seems to be slaying is a lot of goodwill based on her overt Republican and pro-Trump, politics. In 2018 she supported Brett Kavanaugh, and she is still happy to espouse her political feelings all over the internet. This year, she has told an actor from “Glee” to go back to Canada and also supported the president after he was accused of racism when he told the self-proclaimed “squad” of progressive Democratic politics to go back where they came from. 

Milano is as much a political activist as an actor these days. Sure, sometimes she does weird things, like suggest women go on a sex strike a la the classic Greek farce “Lysistrata.” However, Milano is a dedicated political activist, especially when it comes to women’s equality matters. There was even an article in the The New York Times about her activism this year.

Hey, you can’t say that Baldwin’s (not very good) Trump impression isn’t a political act. He’s satirizing the president, and he’s doing it from a place of contempt. It’s not all just play acting on “Saturday Night Live,” though. He also took to Virginia to campaign for Democrats up for elections in 2019.

Raphael plays Jane Fonda’s daughter on “Grace and Frankie,” so it’s not surprising she was at one of Fonda’s climate change protests that ended with arrests. On top of that, though, she had a book she co-wrote with Kate Black that is a guide for women who want to run for political office.

Clooney’s political activism is well known at this point. When he isn’t making movies, selling tequila or being a charming interview, he’s usually doing something political. While Clooney said he won’t be running for president he’s still out there talking up politics, and while he hasn’t endorsed anybody yet, in time he will likely be leading the fundraiser circuit. We also should take a second to acknowledge the work done by his wife, Amal, who is a human rights lawyer.

Whitford was on “The West Wing” for many years, but he’s almost as politically involved in real life. The actor is on the board for the group Let America Vote, which is an organization that fights voter suppression. He also was involved with Gwyneth Paltrow in that fundraiser dinner for Pete Buttigieg.