“Ray Donovan” fans know Steven Bauer as the muscle man to Liev Schreiber‘s fixer, Ray.
Bauer’s character Avi tracks down problems and makes them disappear, such as dogged Boston reporter Kate McPherson (Vinessa Shaw), who wouldn’t take no for an answer and ended up with bullets to the chest and head. Then there was the Minassian crime family, whose members got into a wild shootout with Avi, Ray and Mickey (Jon Voight). Spoiler alert — things didn’t go so well for the Minassians either.
While Avi is a man of few words, in real-life Bauer has a lot to say, particularly about the 2016 presidential race.
“I think Donald Trump can do it, if he can humble himself to choose, really, really smart people to surround himself with,” Bauer told TheWrap during an interview about Season 3 of his Golden Globe-nominated Showtime series, which was just released on DVD.
“I think he can get the popular vote and I think that it would be a bold choice. It’s not the worst that we could do,” Bauer explained.
So what is the worst we could do? In Bauer’s opinion, a Hillary Clinton presidency would bring a world of problems.
“Hillary Clinton’s got a lot of problems. She’s got a little Internet problem, a little email problem,” the actor said.
Bauer was born Esteban Ernesto Echevarria in Havana, Cuba. His family fled the island nation in the 1960s and settled in Miami. The actor went on to study theater in college, and eventually landed his first big part in the 1977 PBS bilingual sitcom “¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?” From there he popped up on TV shows like “The Rockford Files” and “Hill Street Blues.”
It wouldn’t be long before he clinched a breakout role as Manny Ribera in Brian De Palma‘s 1983 film “Scarface.” Months later, Bauer made women’s pulses race in the 1984 romantic thriller “Thief of Hearts.” The Hollywood hunk’s career continued to thrive with parts in action movies and crime shows before he landed his coveted role on “Ray Donovan.”
“Everywhere I go, in airports, in supermarkets, people are nuts about ‘Ray Donovan,’” Bauer said.
While Avi has remained relatively low-key, Bauer would like to see more plots that revolve around Ray’s right-hand man. “I would love to have a personal life, but if that’s not in the cards, that’s OK too, ” he explained.
As for when Bauer became so interested in the current race for the White House, that may have something to do with one of his co-stars.
“I went to see Ted Cruz because of
“I had a really nice chat with him,” Bauer said, adding that Cruz has a lot to offer.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s a sharp guy. It’s an option. It definitely is an option for this country because there’s a lot of things that have been going a little bit askew,” Bauer added. “The Middle East is in turmoil, our country is in turmoil and Americans are unhappy. It could be Trump, it could be Ted Cruz, who knows, it could be Hillary Clinton.”
Except for that email server problem, Bauer cautioned.
“I know it’s easy to dismiss, but it really happened. That really happened and I just don’t know. I don’t see her as a commander-in-chief. I’d rather see somebody with a big idea go in a very bold direction for this country.”
“Ray Donovan” Season 3 is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Season 4 will premiere on Showtime in 2016.