By MIREYA NAVARRO
LOS ANGELES
IN the new release "Around the World in 80 Days," Arnold Schwarzenegger has a cameo as a narcissistic Turkish prince with a frizzy Cleopatra look and even worse pickup lines. ("It is mesmerizing the way your face illuminates.") The movie has bombed but, luckily for Mr. Schwarzenegger, Hollywood is giving him good reviews anyway.
Many high-profile figures in the heavily Democratic entertainment industry campaigned against the recall election that put Mr. Schwarzenegger in the California governor's office, gave money to rival candidates or publicly doubted his qualifications. But in barely eight months, he has defied the naysayers and found an elixir more potent than Botox for an aging action star reduced to silly movie parts: political success.
He has proven so popular as governor — polls show he has an approval rating of over 60 percent — that many Hollywood Democrats not only praise him but have joined him on some issues. And Republicans in the industry seem to be squinting in the sunlight after a long hibernation. A group of Republicans including actors, producers and writers who have held salon-type meetings to discuss politics and the Iraq war for over a year has grown to about 100, from 8 at first, said the character actor Robert Davi, adding that Mr. Schwarzenegger has galvanized many of them. As Michael Harbert, a writer and producer who is a Republican and has worked on G.O.P. campaigns, put it: "He clearly opened the door and made it not just acceptable but fashionable to say, `I'm an Arnold Schwarzenegger Republican.' That's a new title. He's brought that cachet back." Mr. Davi, who appeared in "Raw Deal" with Mr. Schwarzenegger, recalled that in the thick of the California recall campaign last year, the consensus among many celebrities about Mr. Schwarzenegger's candidacy could be summed up in one phrase: "This is a joke." Danny DeVito, an early political supporter of the governor and his co-star in films like "Twins," remembered that fellow Democrats in the business questioned his endorsement.
"Some of my friends couldn't believe I was supporting him," Mr. DeVito said. "They said that, basically, he was a Republican" — as in contagious disease.
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