George Lopez for mayor

George Lopez for mayor

George Lopez told CNN's Piers Morgan that he's not ruling out the idea of running for mayor of Los Angeles -- eight years from now.

The actor and comedian is a guest on Tuesday's "Piers Morgan Tonight." He provides the voice for Grouchy Smurf in the new movie "The Smurfs."

"This is a great city, and it's my city," Lopez said. "I believe that there are certain things that could be taken care of that you don't need a strong political background in."

Lopez told Morgan he cares most about "bonding the city back."

"Architecture downtown is beautiful," Lopez said, "and people live here, but they don't have a pride in Los Angeles that they did years ago, when I was growing up."

Lopez's L.A. childhood didn't provide much fodder for his comedy career. The comedian never knew his father, and his mother was an epileptic illiterate who had the mental capacity of an 8-year-old.

"If I was a can of soup at the store," said Lopez, summing up his childhood, "I'd have a dent in me, and I'd be in that basket that they have at the end of the hall, the end of the aisle that says, 'These are 99 cents, everything in the can.' That's how I would have considered myself."