Kelsey Grammer Interview: The 'Boss Star' on Being A Republican in Hollywood — Transcript

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1. 0:01[Music]
2. 0:16why weren't you nominated for n yeah why
3. 0:19weren't you nominated for you won the
4. 0:20Golden Globe you did this you know it is
5. 0:22a funny thing you spend a lot of time
6. 0:24racking your brain about it and and and
7. 0:26I finally I I did think part of me
8. 0:28thought you know maybe this you know
9. 0:30this being an openly Republican guy in
10. 0:32in Hollywood might have something to do
11. 0:34with it I don't know if it does I mean I
12. 0:37do know that there is a there's a
13. 0:39Hallmark of Tolerance in my community
14. 0:40out there but may or may not be true I
15. 0:43don't know it's so strange because the
16. 0:45idea is that like being a republican to
17. 0:47dirty secret when half of the country is
18. 0:50it is worst the worst thing you can be
19. 0:52there but you know what it's also it's
20. 0:53in my nature the thing is I have always
21. 0:56been a rebel if you ever tell me the way
22. 0:58to think I'm bound to think the other
23. 1:00way so I live in Hollywood so what else
24. 1:02would I
25. 1:05be it did occur to me that if if as
26. 1:07people have said this is the finest work
27. 1:09I've ever done um that has been widely
28. 1:12circulated that notion it just surprised
29. 1:15me that you know having won a few emys
30. 1:17before that you know I'd be completely
31. 1:19overlooked by the acting community in
32. 1:22what is arguably my greatest work it
33. 1:25just seemed odd so you know I'm okay
34. 1:27maybe they feel you have enough of that
35. 1:31maybe what's he going to do with another
36. 1:33one I don't know what it is so if you
37. 1:35genuinely were running for office and
38. 1:38there was a time where you said maybe I
39. 1:40will I still think about it still think
40. 1:42I think you got to be able to tell you
41. 1:44run for Congress maybe Congress I don't
42. 1:45know maybe Senate I I I don't I don't
43. 1:47know actually what it is what would be
44. 1:48the first thing you would do though as a
45. 1:51Cong what could you do in the political
46. 1:53world that we live I think you got to
47. 1:54figure out how to make something happen
48. 1:56that's all and uh you either choose
49. 1:59manipulation or you choose the truth I
50. 2:01mean I would try to choose the truth and
51. 2:03you know unfortunately the truth doesn't
52. 2:05sell things very well I mean honestly
53. 2:07Democrats and Republicans aren't that
54. 2:09far apart in terms of what their real
55. 2:10vision is we want we want good things
56. 2:13for everybody we want prosperity and and
57. 2:15and and nice things to happen and
58. 2:17actually we want to be responsible for
59. 2:18it ourselves I don't think everybody
60. 2:20wants the government to take care of
61. 2:22every problem they have I don't believe
62. 2:24that but uh that's that's that's the
63. 2:27story we're selling right now that's
64. 2:29what we're and that's what we're
65. 2:30fighting in you know that's the that's
66. 2:31the language of it um I I think I think
67. 2:36you know Thomas Jefferson was the guy
68. 2:37that talked about you know every time
69. 2:38government gets bigger individual rights
70. 2:40get smaller and I I really don't think
71. 2:42people want that but but is that the
72. 2:44fundamental difference between a
73. 2:46Republican and a Democrat uh at this
74. 2:48point I think it is yeah you know I mean
75. 2:50uh you got to convince Each Other Well
76. 2:52in order to win elections I guess now
77. 2:54you have to convince your team or the
78. 2:57swing voters that uh the other guy is
79. 3:00evil so you have to pretend they hate
80. 3:03gay people or or that they hate certain
81. 3:05ideas about you know uh entitlement
82. 3:07programs I mean I I do tend to think
83. 3:09that smaller government works better for
84. 3:12individuals because individual
85. 3:14individuals have a right to make their
86. 3:15own lives work and uh and an obligation
87. 3:18I think in this country uh government
88. 3:20cannot guarantee uh no
89. 3:23suffering uh I I think government can
90. 3:26actually help as it says you know
91. 3:28Commerce is in the country institution
92. 3:30to regulate commerce I think I think the
93. 3:32government can actually Advance
94. 3:34Prosperity uh I I think it's a little
95. 3:37weird
96. 3:38that right now it seems they want to
97. 3:41actually expand suffering so I'm a
98. 3:45little I'm a little surprised about that
99. 3:47one you know you read these little
100. 3:48articles about you know no more heart
101. 3:50stance and you know think what what's
102. 3:52that about but having received one
103. 3:55myself that I have a particular stake in
104. 3:57that so you don't have the solution to
105. 3:59our political problems in this country
106. 4:02well I think it's actually I think the
107. 4:03wanted that from think the real solution
108. 4:05is actually in facing head on the
109. 4:08challenges that are real you know and
110. 4:10you know everybody knows that Medicare
111. 4:11is screwed up everybody knows for for 30
112. 4:13years the sen has been every guy I know
113. 4:15in Washington has been talking about how
114. 4:17there is no way it can continue the way
115. 4:18it is so well some of it has to change
116. 4:21then you know but if you want to be the
117. 4:24guy that changes it then you know you're
118. 4:26a terrible person I believe everybody
119. 4:28should be able to get married to whoever
120. 4:29they want to get married to uh I just
121. 4:31don't believe government should ever
122. 4:32have been involved in marriage but of
123. 4:34course they did that to the Mormons you
124. 4:35know over 100 years ago