MAGA-obsessed Ben Shapiro has written a movie, and A-list actors are lining up to help him make it.
The film, called Confession, is set to premiere on Oct. 15 at the Warsaw Film Festival, Deadline reported. It follows a former professor imprisoned in Moscow in 1938 and under interrogation. Rob Lowe, 62, stars as Alexei, the professor; James Franco, 48, plays Vladimir, Lowe’s military interrogator and former student.
The cast also includes Oscar nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh, Golden Globe winner Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Golden Globe winner Nick Nolte, Brad Dourif, Emile Hirsch, Richard Brake, and Dean Norris. Lowe also serves as a producer, and Czech filmmaker Václav Marhoul directs.
Shapiro’s conservative production company and news site, Daily Wire, came under fire last week for producing the pro-ICE movie Pawn Shop. The opening sequence of the film dramatizes ICE’s fatal Jan. shooting of Renée Good in Minnesota, taking the side of her killer.
Pawn Shop’s production in Livingston, Montana, allegedly disrupted local businesses and the city’s only food bank. Its team also allegedly neglected to notify neighbors before shooting dangerous stunts and hired armed security to protect the crew against protestors playing trombones in the streets. The City Commission voted to temporarily shut down filming until the production received proper permitting.
The Confession stars’ involvement with Shapiro’s film is inconsistent with their politics, and many have spoken out against the MAGA movement.
Lowe, 62, hasn’t publicly supported President Donald Trump, 80, though he told Conan O’Brien in 2020 that conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a good friend. Franco, 41 publicly supported Hilary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Nolte, 85, has also slammed Trump, calling him “not a tough guy.”
Franco and Hirsch, however, have both faced damning allegations, leaving their Hollywood careers deeply damaged. Five women accused Franco of inappropriate or sexually exploitative behavior in 2018, during the height of the #MeToo movement.
Hirsch pleaded guilty in 2015 to misdemeanor assault after female studio executive Daniele Bernfeld accused him of putting her in a chokehold at a Utah nightclub during the Sundance Film Festival. Bernfeld said of the attack, “I thought I was going to die.”
Despite the tarnished reputations of some cast members, social media users have expressed surprise at their involvement.
“Jesus tap-dancing Christ, I expected Franco but Rob Lowe?!” a Reddit user wrote. Another called Dourif, 76, and Norris, 63, “Pathetic” and “devoid of principles.”
“Is this real?” a Twitter user wrote in disbelief. “Cause wtf. How on earth did Rob Lowe, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte and Emile Hirsch agree to do a movie by Ben Shapiro and Daily Wire!? What is going on??”
Another wrote, simply, “I’m so disappointed.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to make clear that Emile Hirsch was not accused of sexual misconduct.
