Who’s the American Movie Star Equivalent of Volodymyr Zelensky?

Three options.

It is impossible not to be moved by the courage of Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky over the last week. You can make a strong argument that he is as uniquely responsible for the dramatic turn in public opinion against Vladimir Putin as anyone other than Putin himself. It is truly remarkable.

But, as been documented constantly over the last week (and really Zelensky took that initial call from then-President Donald Trump that led to the first impeachment), Zelensky, before he got into politics, was an actor and a comedian. In fact, he got into politics because of a show where he played a normal man who was elected President of Ukraine. (I recommend this excellent Michael Idov piece at GQ for your background.) Zelensky was clearly one of the biggest stars in Ukraine before running for office.

But what kind of star? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out: Who’s the American equivalent to Zelensky, movie-star-wise? After watching trailers and reading reviews of his films — translated from…