They will be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump. Three actors were designated Thursday, January 16, “ambassadors to Hollywood” by the American politician who will return to the presidency of the United States from Monday. “I have the honor to announce that Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone will be special ambassadors in this major, but very turbulent, place that is Hollywood, California,” the billionaire wrote on his Truth Social network. republican.
According to him, the three actors, aged 69, 78 and 86 respectively, will serve as “special emissaries with the objective of remaking Hollywood, which has lost a lot in four years to the benefit of foreign countries, a place bigger, better and stronger than it has ever been! » thunders the future tenant of the White House, who had apparently not taken the trouble to consult the interested parties before, Gibson having declared that he was not aware, but that he would respond to the call.
“Establish your ideological position”
The project leaves many specialists in American cinema doubtful, including Matthieu Rostac, biographer of Mel Gibson (“Mel Gibson in the breach”, ed. Capricci)who immediately emphasizes that “Trump doesn’t specify much in his announcement. They will be my eyes and my earsbut what does that mean? And with three people, he’s not going to cover much ground…”
Especially since the weight and fame of the three “ambassadors” must also be put into perspective. “Jon Voight (Angelina Jolie's father)we can completely put an end to it, he is 86 years old and above all, no longer has a career. Stallone is a little more consensual, but his last notable role that comes to mind is an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Or in Tulsa Kingbut it's a series. »
“He’s a Republican, a conservative, but he’s careful about what he says. What Mel Gibson doesn't do, who says what he thinks, in an industry where one word can sink a project and cost millions. Gibson certainly has a network in Hollywood, but a small one, far from sprawling, which operates in isolation. He isolated himself over the years because of his escapades (he was convicted of domestic violence and made anti-Semitic comments, for which he apologized). On the other hand, he has an aura, that's for sure, even if it's not that of Stallone. »
-Enough to still influence movie-loving voters? “The United States has changed a lot in recent years,” notes Matthieu Rostac. We have experienced two Trump elections, which also radicalized the media space, and I think that there is now an attraction for people like Mel Gibson, more than before, and that many will start to take what he says as gospel (the actor has just made conspiratorial remarks about the Los Angeles fires, in which he lost his house). I think that's Trump's idea, to establish his ideological position with people who have chemistry with him. »
“Trump may be dreaming of himself as Reagan in the 1980s”
But the task will be difficult, Hollywood remaining overwhelmingly Democratic. “There is a Republican ecosystem within Hollywood, but it is tiny, starving. The people who pull the strings in Hollywood are Democrats, or close to them, or apolitical. The only one I can think of who is Republican and important right now is Zack Snyder (author of “300” or “Watchmen”). But he is above all a director, he only produces his own projects, he has no real influence. »
“The Hollywood industry is in the midst of an overhaul, it’s not doing very well. And I don’t see the three actors weighing in on this, underlines Matthieu Rostac. Trump wants to make a big impact, he takes some mummies out of the closet, he announces something and then he sees if it bites. »
He adds: “I'm speculating a little, but Trump perhaps dreams of himself as Ronald Reagan of the 80s. He wants, like him, to use cinema as a soft power American and make it shine across the world. But Reagan was a former actor, he had maintained contacts in Hollywood, which was very different at the time. This is also how Stallone was able to emerge, and a franchise like Rambototally republican, whereas at the start, the first film did not give in to that at all. »
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