Talking politics

Stars in his eyes

by Seth Gitell

This month has seen another chapter in the devolution of William Weld. The former governor has a cameo in the drug-war thriller Traffic, starring Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Dennis Quaid.

The film, directed by Steven Soderbergh, stars Douglas as a drug czar who stops by a Georgetown cocktail party to discuss policy with a group of American politicians. Weld appears with real-life senators Harry Reid (R-Nevada), Barbara Boxer (D-California), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Don Nickles (R-Oklahoma), and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). But among these luminaries, Weld is the only one who is not an active politician these days. In fact, Weld isn't even a lawyer anymore -- he gave up his law practice at McDermott, Will & Emery for a job at a New York investment group.

How the mighty have fallen.

"It doesn't surprise me. Why not acting? He faked being governor," says Democratic consultant and Weld critic Michael Goldman. "The one thing he will never play in the movies -- because he wouldn't have the experience to do it -- is somebody who works hard."