Ron Paul is trading the campaign trail for the silver screen.
The former congressman and presidential candidate will make his acting debut in “Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Galt,” alongside other prominent conservatives including Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, the last of three installments based on Ayn Rand’s influential 1957 novel, follows two box office slumps. But Paul has nothing but praise for the project.
“Atlas Shrugged is a fantastic book, but it’s much more than a story — it’s a philosophy,” Paul said in an “Atlas Shrugged” promotional video. “It’s influenced millions of people already and because of its greatness it’s going to continue to influence a lot of people.”
According to director Harmon Kaslow, Paul and Beck will play TV commentators reporting on a speech by the titular John Galt. “I love ‘Atlas Shrugged’ — ‘Fountainhead’ I love more — but who could say no?” Glenn Beck told The Hollywood Reporter.
The film will be packed with similar cameos from popular conservatives, including radio talk show host Andrew Wilkow, Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist, and Fox News regular Jonathan Hoenig. “We put out a casting call and those are the only guys who showed up,” Kaslow said of the conservative cast. “It could be the subject matter.”
The libertarian-leaning Paul is a longtime fan of Rand’s novels, which champion free-market economics. “She had a lot of influence on me,” Paul said of Rand in 2007. (Paul’s Republican son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, is also a fan.) Though “Atlas Shrugged” marks Paul’s acting debut, the role is not Paul’s first film appearance. He was famously duped into a brief appearance in Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2009 film “Bruno.” Paul agreed to give Cohen an interview on Austrian economics, but fled the set when Cohen stripped and attempted to seduce him on camera. “Atlas Shrugged: Who is John Galt” is slated for release September 12.
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