Brad Pitt for mayor?

'Brad Pitt for Mayor' T-shirts have been appearing all over New Orleans. But will he run? Photograph: Judi Bottoni/AP

In 2007 Oklahoma-born Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie bought a house in New Orleans and the couple has worked to rebuild areas in the lower ninth ward ravaged by Hurricane Katrina through the charity Make it Right. When asked about a possible mayoral run on NBC's Today programme this morning, the actor laughed and said: "I don't have a chance." He also doesn't have the proper residency status. To run for office, candidates must have been city residents for five years, and the mayoral primaries are in 2010 Photograph: Mario Anzuoni /Reuters

Val Kilmer, who played Jim Morrison in The Doors, may want to break on through to politics. The New York Post reported that Kilmer is pondering a bid for governor of New Mexico next year. Can the Iceman take the political heat? Photograph: Karen Robinson/Guardian

He's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him. Before Al Franken became a Democratic US senator for Minnesota this year, he played self-help guru Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live. He also was a writer and producer for the programme Photograph: Jim Mone/AP

Republican Fred Thompson not only served as US senator for Tennessee from 1994-2003, but he also served as a New York district attorney on the American television series Law & Order. Thompson's success on the small screen didn't help his political life recently: He ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign last year Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty

In 1998 former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura body slammed the competition to become governor of Minnesota. Ventura, who starred in the sci-fi action film Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, served as governor until 2002. The Reform Party member didn't seek a second term Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

Republican Sonny Bono served California's 44th congressional district as a member of the US House of Representatives. He was well known for his singing and acting on the American television show The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour Photograph: AP and Corbis

Will he be back? Rumours are swirling that California's Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may run for a US Senate seat in 2010 since his term limit is up Photograph: Getty and Kobal

Republican Ronald Reagan is America's most successful actor-turn-politician. The man who acted with a chimpanzee in Bedtime for Bonzo proved his doubters wrong, winning the California governship and ulitmately the presidency. But he wasn't the first - many consider George Murphy, who appeared in screen musicals such as Broadway Melody of 1938 and For Me and My Gal, to hold that honour. Murphy became a Republican US senator for California in 1965 Photograph: AP and Reuters