Action star Steven Seagal was so determined to run for office in America he hired a campaign team and carried out polls to determine whether he should cut off his ponytail for his political bid, according to a report.

The Under Siege star planned to run as a Republican candidate in California to win a seat in the Senate in the early 1990s and he hired lobbyist Ryan Branaugh to help put together his campaign, according to political magazine The Baffler.

Branaugh reportedly told the publication Seagal rented an office, hired 16 employees and started making serious plans for a political campaign, even carrying out surveys to decide whether he should cut his hair for his new role as a politician.

Branaugh recalls, "He (Seagal) said: 'Issues are Ok. I've got nothing against them. But what the voters really give two s**ts about is whether I should or should not have a ponytail in the Senate. I could be Warren Beatty and say that the bureaucratic infrastructure is what they care about, but I'm a realist."

Seagal reportedly gave up his political dream when he heard Republican politician Michael Huffington was launching a massive $28 million (£17.5 million) bid for the Senate seat, which went on to become the most expensive non-presidential campaign in U.S. election history. Huffington eventually lost to Democrat Dianne Feinstein.