*Danny Trejo wants his critics to separate the actor from the role. “I am an actor. My job is to tell a story,” the “Machete” star told TMZ amid backlash over his part in “Pawn Shop.”
The Daily Wire thriller has drawn fire since filming began. Directed by Michael Polish, the film follows an ICE officer fighting to survive after his partner is seriously injured, according to The Daily Wire. He hides in a pawn shop with a traditional Hispanic father and his progressive college-age son.
According to Complex, critics have also zeroed in on reports about the film’s content, including a scene that recreates the fatal January shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
The shoot also hit a snag in Livingston, Montana, where city officials briefly pulled the production’s filming permit after neighbors complained about the noise and disruption.
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Ben Shapiro, whose Daily Wire produced the film with Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend, used his show to blame politics for the shutdown. “There’s only one reason the city commissioners ruled they were going to stop our production on the street: politics, pure and simple,” he said. Shapiro called it “content discrimination” and “a violation of the First Amendment.”
City leaders insisted the issue was public safety and permit compliance. They restored the permit Oct. 5 once filmmakers accepted new limits on noise, public access and private security.
Trejo, who stars alongside Harvey Keitel, reportedly told people on set he signed on because the film portrays a Latino military veteran positively. He also made his personal stance plain. “I know where I come from and I know our struggles,” he said.
“I am a proud Mexican who has always been and will always be a supporter of my community,” Trejo added. “I am also obviously pro-immigrant. I am not pro-ICE.”
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