Antonio Sabato Jr. was hot stuff in Hollywood. He was a soap opera star. He was a renowned model. He was dating Madonna. But that all changed in 2016 when he decided to run for Congress. As a Republican.
In his new book, "Sabato: The Untold Story," Sabato, Jr. gets candid about how his conservatism cost him his agents and his gigs, but not his dignity.
The actor begins by explaining the unimaginable obstacles his family endured while he was still a boy.
"My family had to flee from socialist run Czechoslovakia to Italy, then having to leave Italy, where I was born, because it too had become a socialist country and was, in no small part, the reason my father’s sparkling thirty-year film career had dried up," Sabato Jr. writes in his book. "There was no money for making Italian films then in Italy."
"As if that wasn’t bad enough, the devastating fire in our home in Rome, when I was eight-years old which, according to the fire chief in a conversation with my mother at the scene, was started by a bomb, deliberately. We lost everything we had ever owned in that fire and had to start over again, with nothing but the clothes on our backs."
So they emigrated to America in 1985, where he would eventually find fame.
And so I was a bit surprised when Sabato Jr. said that running as a Republican for Congress was "far worse" than anything he had been through before coming to America. When he told the world he was conservative, his agents dropped him like a brick, while others called him names or wished him death.
My first question, "do have any regrets?" was probably the easiest one for him to answer.
"No," Sabato Jr. quickly said. "I've moved on from those things."
The other things - the most important things - are still centerstage in his life.
"You need some kind of support system and I get it from God," Sabato explained. "I think it was good therapeutic wise to write a book, the good and the bad. stories are going to uplift people and get a better idea of the family I'm surrounded with. I had an exciting life...it's kind of fascinating. "
In the 80s and 90s, he remembered, people were at odds ideologically, but they were at least still in a dialogue. Now fruitful or at least respectful conversation among political opposites is nearly impossible.
But, Sabato isn't alone in Hollywood. There are a handful of other "out and proud" conservatives, such as Academy Award winner Jon Voight. Voight not only supports President Trump, he has narrated much of this week's Republican National Convention.
"We have one thing in common, me and Jon Voight," Sabato said. "Our patriotism. I support America. I support this country as being one of a kind. I don't like to see our flag being burned. I respect our soldiers, our police, our teachers."
Sabato Jr. himself had a speaking gig at the 2016 RNC convention. While he didn't have a part in this year's event, he's been watching closely. And he doesn't think the DNC's Hollywood heavy affair will have much of an impact at the ballot box.
"No not at all," he said. "Years ago, maybe. Hollywood has just been endangering themselves over the years. Saying, 'I want to blow up the White House'...'I want to cut off his head.' Americans want to go to work. they're done with this political stuff. They've got to pay their bills. I have other responsibilities and we got to go out there and take care of our families."
By the way, he wondered, what do celebs know about the plight of the average American?
"These are multi-millionaires, they can stay home for a year without worrying about paying their bills," he noted.
Looking ahead, Sabato Jr. is angling to start a brand new conservative movie studio. He was happy to report that "a lot of producers" have already reached out to him and that the studio's first film, "Trailblazers," is already in the works.
"We are putting together a plan to create a conservative movie studio for all patriots to do projects that Hollywood would never do. No more blacklisting and no more injustice from the socialist's elites," he tweeted about the project.
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