For decades, Hollywood actor Danny Trejo\u2019s bread and butter was playing gangsters, prison inmates and other assorted criminals. <\/p>\n
So when Trejo was offered the chance to a play a hardworking, peace-loving Mexican shop owner in a thriller with a working title of \u201cPawn Shop,\u201d the 82-year-old actor \u201cjumped at the idea of playing a good guy,\u201d his son, Gilbert Trejo, posted to social media.<\/a><\/p>\n Now Trejo is catching flack for taking part in what\u2019s been described as a pro-ICE movie that is being produced by conservative media outfit<\/a> The Daily Wire, which was founded by political commentator Ben Shapiro.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a proud Mexican who has always been and will always be a supporter of my community,\u201d Trejo wrote in an Oct. 9 post <\/a>on Instagram. \u201cI am also obviously pro immigrant. I am not pro ice.\u201d<\/p>\n But Trejo gave no indication in the post if he knew who was producing the movie when he signed onto the movie, and closed by declaring \u201cI am an actor. My job is to tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n His son, however, insisted that Trejo did not know Shapiro was involved in the movie until two weeks into the shooting. <\/p>\n \u201cMy 82-year-old dad has never heard of Ben Shapiro,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI had to explain to him who that is, and what kind of guy he is.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.<\/p>\n Now, Trejo is \u201chandcuffed to this stupid project, and swaths of people have instantly turned their back on him without knowing any of the facts,\u201d Gilbert Trejo said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad contractually can\u2019t bad mouth him, the film, or walk away without being sued for breach of contract,\u201d he added. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t even release the statement he wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis agent described it as \u2018a complicated story about a complicated time, where everyone looks bad except you, the hardworking Mexican shop owner who just wants peace,\u2019\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Trejo is represented by Gloria Hinojosa, who works for the Los Angeles-based boutique talent agency Amsel, Eisenstadt, Frazier & Hinojosa, Inc. She did not return an email for comment. <\/p>\n The movie, which is being shot in Livingston, Montana, also stars Harvey Keitel \u2014 another tough-guy actor who is known to be ideologically opposed to Shapiro and his ilk. He is represented by Stephanie Simon of Untitled Entertainment. She, too, did not respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n So it was not clear if either Trejo or Keitel were aware of the synopsis of \u201cPawn Shop,\u201d which now appears on IMDB<\/a>, before they signed onto the movie.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen chaos hits the streets of Minneapolis, a young federal agent is left alone after his partner is seriously hurt and must find a way to survive an increasingly dangerous situation. Seeking shelter inside a neighborhood pawn shop, he becomes trapped with a traditional Hispanic father and his progressive college-age son, forcing three very different men to confront fear, conflicting beliefs and a crisis that tests their courage and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n The film set has been the site of numerous protests <\/a>after behind the scenes video appeared to show the movie will have a sequence based on the January 2026 fatal shooting of Ren\u00e9e Good by an ICE Agent in St. Paul, Minnesota. <\/p>\n