Actor Sean Astin Compares Kamala Harris to His Character Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings

BALLASY: “Some of the celebrities we thought we’d see, we have not, like George Clooney, some of the other big names. But you’re here. What made you come to support Harris?”
ASTIN: “I played a famous supporting character, Samwise Gamgee, in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, and people have told me for the last 24 years, since they’ve been watching that, how much they feel that Sam is a hero. We’ve been watching Kamala Harris in a very powerful supporting role for the last three and a half years. She’s now stepped out, she’s ready, she’s strong, and I just want to — I don’t want to miss this moment in history. I wanted to see a woman — since my mom was president of my labor union in the mid-80s, I’ve always thought a woman should be president of the United States. I’ve been married 32 years, I’ve got three daughters, and yeah, whatever I can possibly do with my — I hate the idea of platform, but whatever I can do with the fact that I’ve established an audience and a rapport with people. Mostly — I don’t know if you saw this Harvard study that came out last week that said that entertainment figures are actually having a much more outsized impact than you’d think they would, but not necessarily in a bad way, not necessarily — you know, if I travel to other states, I’m not trying to persuade people in their state how they should vote. I’m there to support the staff and the volunteers and to let them know that they’re — you know, that I believe in what what they’re doing. So the idea of civic engagement is a pretty important message from people, and that’s — if I can promote that and say, ‘Hey, regardless of who you’re gonna vote for, be involved,’ and then vote for Kamala Harris for president.”