Actors aren’t really the characters they play in film and TV.
John Oliver relayed that message on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight in response to a comment from a Fox News pundit.
He began the latest episode of his HBO late-night show by noting that both former President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have visited East Palestine, Ohio, in the wake of a freight train derailment and toxic spill.
But, Oliver noted, that isn’t enough for some Fox News Channel personalities. He showed a clip of Fox News hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy and Jesse Watters discussing the high-profile figures who have — and haven’t — visited the Ohio town amid the disaster.
“Think about the environmental activists, and corporate America — they weren’t there,” Campos-Duffy said. “I mean, with the activists, this is an ‘Erin Brockovich’ moment. There was a blockbuster, Oscar-winning movie written about something like this.”
“Erin Brockovich is actually in East Palestine tonight, right now,” Watters interjected.
Replied Campos-Duffy: “She is — but where’s Julia Roberts?”
A perplexed and exasperated Oliver responded: “What? What are you talking about? You realize Julia Roberts is an actor, right? She was pretending. She’s not actually Erin Brockovich.”
He continued, referencing some of her biggest films: “Also, I can’t believe I’m the one that has to break this to you. She didn’t actually ruin her best friend’s wedding [My Best Friend’s Wedding], she’s not a sex worker [Pretty Woman] and she did not die in a small Louisiana town in 1989 [Steel Magnolias]. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
