‘Fahrenheit 451’ Star Michael Shannon: Trump ‘Going to Do Damage We’re Not Going to Be Able to Recover From’

Actor Michael Shannon, in a recent interview with the Daily Beast, warned that President Trump is making political decisions “that are going to be unalterable.”

“The stakes are really high right now,” Shannon said of the current state of affairs in the Age of Trump. “I hate to say it, but I feel like there are things happening right now that are going to be unalterable. They’re going to do damage that we’re not going to be able to recover from.”

Shannon is set next to portray Captain Beatty in HBO’s new drama Fahrenheit 451, an updated film based on the popular dystopian 50’s novel written by Ray Bradbury, in which books are burned to prevent the free flow of knowledge and information. While Shannon says he believes that Trump is doing “unalterable” harm to the country, that doesn’t mean that he thinks people should let Trump dominate their lives. In fact, the actor believes there’s a strong case for ignoring the president.

Shannon’s character in the film, Captain Beatty, believes that the way to keep a person from becoming unhappy is to not give them “two sides of a question to think about.” To restrict the flow of information in order to prevent the person from having to wrestle with moral issues which might produce angst, and torment. When asked where he comes down on the issue of how much information people should have access too and which sides should be heard, Shannon says he understands, to an extent, where Captain Beatty is coming from.

“Even within our own country, one of the reasons I think we’re so stuck and dysfunctional is that we keep trying to welcome all these wildly varied points of view and perspectives,” Shannon says, seemingly ignoring the irony of what he’s saying and how it goes against Bradbury’s warnings.

When asked if that’s why so many people retreat to an echo chamber of their own opinions, Shannon readily agreed.

Fahrenheit 451, which also stars Michael B. Jordan and Sofia Boutella, airs on HBO on May 19. 

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn