Pedro Pascal blasts America’s political divide at Cannes: ‘F*ck the people that try to make you scared’ 

Pedro Pascal isn’t mincing words, and at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, he made it clear he’s done with fear-based politics.

During a press conference for Eddington, Ari Aster’s latest cinematic gut punch, Pascal addressed the question with intensity and conviction. The question was about whether the film’s cast — Joaquin Phoenix, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone — felt nervous about returning to the U.S. after working on a politically loaded story.

Pascal didn’t flinch, saying:

“Fear is the way that they win. So keep telling the stories, keep expressing yourself and keep fighting to be who you are.”

He added:

“F*ck 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.”

The moment drew applause from the audience and highlighted the film’s reception at the festival.

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Pedro Pascal opens up about his refugee story and America’s turmoil

Eddington, which A24 unveiled to a five-minute standing ovation, is a COVID-era thriller set in a small New Mexico town. Phoenix plays a sheriff while Pascal plays a mayor, and the two go head-to-head as civil unrest simmers.

Per Variety, the movie doesn’t just hint at America’s current political climate — it dives right into it, especially the divide fueled by the MAGA movement.

Pascal, whose parents fled Chile during a dictatorship, also opened up about what it means to speak on immigration in a time like this.

“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.”

He continued:

“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.”

Pascal gave credit to that experience, adding that he stands by the protections that helped his family.

"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.”

Eddington explores themes of political tension and personal struggle, and it starts with Aster, who said he wrote the film “in a state of fear and anxiety about the world.”

“I wanted to show what it feels like to live in a world where nobody can agree on what is real anymore.”

The filmmaker went on:

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve fallen into this age of hyper-individualism. That social force that used to be central in liberal mass democracies — and agreed upon vision of the world — that is gone now. COVID felt like the moment where that link was finally cut for good. I wanted to make a film about what America feels like, to me. I’m very worried.”

The script didn’t just hit home for Aster — Pascal also responded strongly to it, describing it as real and powerful.

“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."