Literally anyone can play the president of the United States in a feature film or TV series, and a lot of very eclectic stars have done exactly that over the decades. Choosing the fictional occupant of the White House is largely dependent on what sort of project you’re casting for, though, because you’d come up with two different lists depending on whether it’s a prestige drama or a broad comedy.
If you need an ass-kicker, there’s Harrison Ford in Air Force One, while Deep Impact opted for the syrupy tones and dignified gravitas of Morgan Freeman to sell an apocalyptic event and if you want stunt casting, then look no further than Charlie Sheen being credited under his birth name of Carlos Estevez in Machete Kills. And let’s not forget Terry Crews as Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho in Idiocracy.
Of course, Dwayne Johnson has repeatedly been linked with a run at the presidency one day in the future, and he’s leaned into the speculation through the framing device of NBC’s Young Rock, as well as simply admitting out loud in interviews that he’d be honored to assume the highest office in the land. Insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming, though, that he wants to get his feet wet on the big screen before gunning for the real thing.
Plenty of actors have gone into politics over the years, but none of them have ever played the president and then went on to become one in real life. Of course, it’s only conjecture at the moment, but it would certainly be a self-aware career move for Dwayne Johnson were he to wink at his audience in such an overt fashion, so we’ll just wait and see how this one pans out.
