Pedro Pascal attends a press conference for the film “Eddington” at the Cannes Film Festival – Credit: Ian Langsdon/AFP via Getty Images
Pedro Pascal spoke out about the political climate under the second Trump administration and the current immigration policies during the Cannes press conference following the premiere of Eddington.
The Ari Aster film stars Pascal as a progressive New Mexico mayor battling Joaquin Phoenix’s small-town sheriff amid the Covid pandemic in May 2020. Eddington, which skewers the MAGA movement by way of Phoenix’s character, takes place during the first Trump administration, was filmed during the Biden presidency, but will ultimately be released during the second Trump administration.
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The same day Trump seemingly threatened Bruce Springsteen’s re-entry back into America after that singer’s politically charged comments during a European tour stop, Pascal — the son of Chilean refugees — was also asked if he was worried about reentering the U.S. following Eddington’s premiere.
“Fear is the way that they win,” Pascal said. “So keep telling the stories, keep expressing yourself and keep fighting to be who you are. Fuck the people that try to make you scared, you know? And fight back. This is the perfect way to do so in telling stories. And don’t let them win.”
Earlier in the press conference, Pascal was asked about the Trump administration’s immigration policies. “Obviously, it’s very scary for an actor participating in a movie to sort of speak to issues like this. It’s far too intimidating the question for me to really address, I’m not informed enough,” Pascal said.
“I want people to be safe and to be protected, and I want very much to live on the right of history. I’m an immigrant. My parents are refugees from Chile. We fled a dictatorship, and I was privileged enough to grow up in the U.S. after asylum in Denmark. If it weren’t for that, I don’t know what would have happened to us. I stand by those protections. I’m too afraid of your question, I hardly remember what it was.”
Pascal added of Eddington, “It felt like the first time that we had a mole, like a whistleblower almost, someone from the inside being like, ‘This is what’s happening. And that was really powerful to me, and I don’t think I understood that until I saw it.”
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