Why do actors get involved in politics?

Tl;Dr: Actors get sucked into leadership vaccumes

I’m sure there’s a longer, better thought out explanation for this, but why in the world do we end up paying attention to actors in times of political crisis?

For example, Jane Fonda posted on Instagram earlier this week ‘Wake up folks and ride up…‘. Don’t get me wrong, I love that Jane Fonda is saying this, but so are lots of other people. So why does Jane get the attention?

The answer seems pretty obvious: people know who she is. But I think it’s actually more than that. People see celebrities as trustworthy leaders, because of their roles in (fictional) stories. Notably, it’s _not_ because of their deep seated convictions, or deeply studied political philosophies. Indeed, these folks have studied how to mimic deep seated convictions (portray is nicer word) on demand.

In contrast: Mark Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister did not have time to study acting because he was getting economics degrees from Harvard & Oxford.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the President of Mexico, has degrees (B.S., a masters, and a Ph. D.) in Physics and Energy Engineering from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Jane Fonda dropped out of Vassar.

Im not saying Jane Fonda or other actors (Zelinski is the example that makes the rule!) has no business in politics, but I am saying that when celebrities start getting political attention, it’s a sign of a leadership vacuum in a political movement. And it’s a sign political parties should pay attention to and act on!