Josh Duhamel Says Hollywood Actors Should Keep Politics to Themselves: ‘Why Would I Alienate Half My Audience?’ | Video

Josh Duhamel has some advice for actors: Don’t be preachy.

“I have real strong opinions about things, but I don’t really talk about it, because it’s like why? Why would I, you know, alienate half my audiences?” Duhamel said on Wednesday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show.” “Because I respect them, I respect their views on things, but I’m not gonna preach to them. They can believe what they want to believe. I’m just here to make cool stuff.”

Host Megyn Kelly echoed the “Las Vegas” and “Ransom Canyon” actor, bemoaning the cult of personality that often surrounds actors and other famous faces in Hollywood.

“One of the things I’ve noticed happens in Hollywood, if you succeed, is not only do you become recognizable, the fans love you and all that money, but then you get, like, an entourage that surrounds you with the most obsequious, absurd messaging about how amazing you are, which I also think is a damaging force, right?” Kelly said. “It just seems like such a fawning, ridiculous.”

Duhamel agreed that it’s a “good message for a lot of people in the entertainment business these days.”

“I just feel like, you know, because you have a platform, doesn’t mean that you get to preach to everybody,” the actor said.

“Tell that to the Oscars!” Kelly enthused. You can watch the full interview segment below:

Duhamel also spoke about the gigs he had before working as a Hollywood actor, including warehouse work and construction jobs he held into his late 20s. While the film and TV star noted that he didn’t want to go back to those jobs, he appreciated how they helped him gain “real life experience” before starting out as an actor in earnest. Duhamel referenced a shirt his friend once wore to surprise him at the airport reading, “Nobody cares what actors think,” saying it “always stuck with me, because it’s true.”

“It can be a very enticing and intoxicating thing, you know, because you get a lot of stuff thrown at you, and if you don’t keep some kind of perspective on what reality is — and I always knew this, and I watched this, growing up, before I even wanted to get into the business. I’d see guys rocket to start and then burn out quickly,” he said. “I didn’t want to be that guy. I wanted to try to stay as humble and appreciative.”

Kelly said she thinks Duhamel’s perspective is becoming a more prevalent one in Hollywood, citing movie stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Sydney Sweeney who’ve said they want to avoid alienation and stick to simply acting. When Kelly asked if Duhamel thought this was becoming a more common stance, the actor responded, “It should be.”

“It makes perfect sense. If you really want to be successful in this business, why would you make half of your audience despise you by your political beliefs? Maybe they don’t care? I don’t know. I look at it as a business decision,” Duhamel said. “I’m here just to make cool movies, cool TV. I’m here to make cool stuff, and that’s my — I’m the court jester, you know? If I want to preach to you about what I believe politically, I will go run for office. Which I’m not going to do, by the way.”

Watch the clip from “The Megyn Kelly Show” above.

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