Pedro Pascal said that storytelling and self-expression were the perfect way to fight against political turmoil in the United States. “Fight back. This is the perfect way to do so in telling stories. Don’t let them win,” said the 50-year-old. “Fear is the way that they win, for one. And so keep telling the stories and keep expressing yourself and keep fighting to be who you are,” the Chilean-born actor told journalists at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pascal, known for his role in the dystopian video game adaptation The Last of Us, added that it was “far too intimidating” for him to address a question about US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy. Trump has launched a crackdown on illegal immigration and has also detained and moved to deport some legal permanent US residents. His policies have triggered a rash of lawsuits and protests.

He said to The Guardian, “I’m an immigrant. My parents are refugees from Chile. We fled a dictatorship, and I was privileged enough to grow up in the US after asylum in Denmark and if it weren’t for that, I don’t know what would have happened to us. And so I stand by those needing protection, always.” The US president became one of the main talking points in Cannes this week after announcing in May that he wanted 100 per cent tariffs on movies “produced in foreign lands”.