Dean Cain pushes back after Ethan Hawke claims America no longer free

Hollywood actor Dean Cain is pushing back after Ethan Hawke claimed America is no longer free and said there’s now “a fear in the air.”

“Try being a conservative, pal,” Cain wrote on X, after Hawke suggested that expressing himself publicly now comes with consequences he’s never felt before. Hawke claimed that the atmosphere in America has fundamentally changed.

He made the comments this week at the Sundance Film Festival, where his film “The Weight” premiered.

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Hawke said the last few years have marked a turning point in how freely he feels he can speak.

The actor told Variety that he “never felt scared” about what he would say publicly, until the last couple of years, when he felt that he had “to be careful.’”

“There’s a kind of fear in the air that I’ve never felt before,” he continued. “And it’s not America. To get to be an artist in a free country, I’ve had enough of an education to know what a privilege that is. And I don’t feel that way anymore. And that’s something that has to change.”

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Cain’s social media response cut straight to that frustration.

Conservatives in entertainment have long argued they face blacklisting, limited opportunities and public criticism for holding different views.

The Hollywood actors’ comments come after several celebrities took a stand against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the Minneapolis shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, the second anti-ICE agitator to be shot and killed this month.

During an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Olivia Wilde — who was promoting her film “The Invite” — wore an “ICE OUT” pin during her red carpet appearance and shared her thoughts about the “appalling” circumstances.

“We’re all here getting to celebrate something really beautiful and hopeful in film storytelling,” she told Variety. “But the world is hurting right now, and this country is hurting. And it’s appalling.”

Other celebrities, including Natalie Portman, who was promoting her film, “The Gallerist,” opened up about the “devastating” events unfolding in our country.

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“This is such a joyful community celebrating film here and we’re so excited to be showing ‘The Gallerist,’ but we’re also at a moment in our country’s history that is quite devastating,” Portman told Variety.

“It’s really impossible not to talk about what is happening right now and the brutality of ICE and how it has to stop immediately. But also, there’s a beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They’re showing up for each other, protecting each other and fighting for their freedom. It’s a bittersweet moment to celebrate something we’re so proud of on the backdrop of our nation in pain.”

Fox News Digital’s Christina Dugan Ramirez contributed to this report.