Controversial director Woody Allen gave Donald Trump surprising praise during a recent interview, despite admitting he voted for Kamala Harris.
The four-time Oscar winner called the president a ‘pleasure to work with’ while speaking with Bill Maher on the comedian’s Club Random podcast.
‘I’m not a Trumper. I’m one of the few people who can say he directed Trump. I directed Trump in a movie. In Celebrity,’ Allen said, referencing his star-studded 1998 film.
‘He was a pleasure to work with and a very good actor. He was very polite and hit his mark and did everything correctly and had a real flair for show business.’
‘If you think you were canceled before,’ Maher chimed in, nodding at the backlash the director faced during the Me Too movement over renewed interest in the sexual abuse claims by his adopted daughter and the unique history with his third wife.
‘I could direct him now if he would let me. If he’d let me direct him now that he’s president, I think I could do wonders. But he was very easy to work with,’ Allen said.
‘I disagree with almost all, not all, but almost all of his politics or his policies. I can only judge what I know from directing him in film. And he was pleasant to work, and with very professional, very polite to everyone.’
Maher agreed, adding, ‘[Trump’s] different in person. And when you say that, people who are just purely emotional, get very upset, even though it’s just the truth. We’re just saying the truth.’
‘I’m a Democrat. I voted for Kamala Harris,’ Allen said. ‘And I take issue with him, you know, on 95 percent of the things. Maybe 99 percent. But as an actor, he was very good.
‘He was very convincing and very, you know, he has a charismatic quality as an actor. And I’m surprised he wanted to go into politics. Politics is nothing but headaches and critical decisions and agony.
Allen added, ‘This was a guy I used to see at the Knicks games, and he liked to play golf and he liked to judge beauty contests. And he liked to do things that were enjoyable and relaxing.
‘Why anyone would want to suddenly have to deal with the issues of politics is beyond me. But apparently, he doesn’t mind.’
Allen was recently spotted holding hands with his third wife, Soon-Yi Previn, as the couple enjoyed a date night at Italian restaurant Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, California.
At 89, the disgraced director is 35 years older than the special education expert, who was adopted from Korea by his longtime ex-partner, Mia Farrow, and her second ex-husband, André Previn, back in 1978.
Woody (born Allan Konigsberg) and Soon-Yi (born Oh Soon-hee) have been married for 27 years, and they’re proud parents of adopted daughters Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen.
Bechet, 26, works as an assistant to Gagosian Gallery curator Michael Cary, and Manzie, 25, works as an assistant to Emily in Paris showrunner Darren Star.
Previn said she never considered Allen a father figure despite her Rosemary’s Baby alum mother dating him for 12 years, spanning 1980-1992 until Farrow discovered nude Polaroids of her then 21-year-old daughter at his home.
Seven months later, Farrow publicly accused the Bronx-born filmmaker of molesting her seven-year-old adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.
Allen – who was never charged or prosecuted – quickly sued the Roommate thespian for full custody of their son Satchel (now Ronan) and her adopted children Dylan and Moses.
In his 33-page decision in 1993, Justice Elliott Wilk rejected Allen’s bid for custody of all three of their children and called his behavior toward Dylan ‘grossly inappropriate’ while also rejecting the sexual abuse allegations.
And while 40-year-old Dylan stands by the allegations, her 47-year-old brother Moses publicly denied she was ever abused and alleged their mother had abused him in a 2018 WordPress post.