Veteran actor Joe Pantoliano is no stranger to drama—but he says the political climate in Trump’s America is just too much to bear.
“I just want to run for the hills,” the Emmy-winning “Sopranos” and “Matrix” star told reporters at the premiere of CNN’s Tucci in Italy earlier this week. “It’s not even about left or right anymore. It’s about basic decency. And I don’t recognize my country.”
At 73, with more than 150 film and TV credits under his belt, Pantoliano says he’s deeply unsettled by what he calls the “unraveling” of American democracy since Donald Trump returned to power in 2024.
“It’s hard to focus on acting when the world feels like it’s on fire,” he said. “I’m trying to memorize lines while the news is talking about book bans, riots, and politicians openly threatening civil rights. How do you pretend that’s normal?”
Planning an Exit
Pantoliano and his wife, former model Nancy Sheppard, recently spent several weeks in Portugal—and they’re now seriously considering making it home.
“We just got back and I’m telling you—we felt peace there,” he said. “It’s not perfect, no place is. But it’s not poisoned by what’s going on here.”
The actor admitted he has lingering concerns about Portugal’s vulnerability to global cyberattacks—referencing the recent 18-hour blackout caused by a suspected Russian malware strike—but says the United States is hardly immune.
“That blackout in Spain and Portugal? That’s just a test run,” Pantoliano warned. “What happens when it hits here and we’re all too distracted arguing about Hunter Biden’s laptop or Taylor Swift’s politics?”
Fear for the Future
The “Memento” actor says he’s preparing for what he calls a “worst-case scenario.”
“I keep some cash at home,” he laughed, then added more seriously: “Enough to get us going if we need to go. It’s buried—and no, there’s no map.”
Pantoliano isn’t alone. A growing number of American celebrities are quietly packing up and heading out—many citing fear over what a second Trump term could mean for civil liberties, press freedom, and minority rights.
Hollywood’s Great Migration
Rosie O’Donnell relocated to Ireland days after the 2024 election. She says the tipping point came when she was harassed in a grocery store while shopping with her nonbinary child.
“I cried for three days straight,” she shared in a TikTok video in March. “I realized it wasn’t safe for us anymore. Not physically, not emotionally.”
Eva Longoria now splits her time between Europe and Central America. She recently told Marie Claire that Trump’s reelection sealed the deal.
“America is heading toward something dystopian,” she said. “I don’t want to wait around and watch it happen.”
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi quietly bought a countryside estate in the UK before the election—but moved in full-time after the results.
“They wanted to get the hell out before things got worse,” a friend of the couple told Vanity Fair. “They don’t want to raise animals—or ideas—in this version of America.”
A Nation in Flux
For Pantoliano, the decision to leave isn’t about abandoning his country—it’s about protecting his peace.
“I love America. But right now? I don’t feel safe here. Not spiritually, not mentally,” he said. “Portugal isn’t paradise. But it’s not this.”
The actor says no final decision has been made—but they’re researching visas, healthcare, and housing options abroad. “It’s not about fear,” he added. “It’s about self-preservation.”
Do you think more Americans will follow Hollywood’s lead and seek safer ground overseas?
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I am still waiting Robert Deniro to leave
Figures WOKE NextGen would consider this little known person important enough to mention since it’s anti-Trump…
Who gives a shit leave! You are a nobody.
I can help him free of charge.
bye-bye bitch don\’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. PS please leave your citizenship on the nightstand so you can\’t come back David
Agree 100%!!!
Who cares! Love it or leave it.. plain and simple.
Oh no Joe is leaving!!! Who cares! Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on your way out!!
Bottom line is no one has really learned what has been done to America during 3 of the last 5 administrations! China has been buying everyone.. how about the spy balloon? How about tens of thousands of PLA soldiers coming over the southern border? You think that’s an accident?
All the while America at the expense of our taxpayers patrols the oceans to support international trade who the chief beneficiary of is China! And the next beneficiary is Western Europe whose nice cozy lifestyle is made possible by the American taxpayer!!
That needs to change! And while you may hate Trump as a person and the egomaniac he but he is the only one who can and is standing up to this and standing up for Americans! Change is hard but it’ll be worse for the world if we don’t change!!!
Who do you think was behind the cyberattack that took down power and the internet in Portugal and Spain? It could happen here too unless we stand up now before it’s too late! The world needs a strong America! No other country can be what we can be for the world!
Wake up and use your common sense!
GoodBy Joe, you don’t have any common sense in my opinion! (-:
Angelo your post is right on. As a disabled veteran of the Vietnam conflict” not war” I can’t agree more. People have been brainwashed into thinking George Soros, ” the traitor to his own country” along with his puppets the Kenyan Obama, Biden, Harris, Clinton and all the democrats where trying to improve America by selling hundreds of acers of farm land to China, importing their trash made by child labor, supporting and funding a child murder mill, trying to remove our Constitution and Bill of rights not to mention God. Every one of them took the same oath I took as a service member, part of which said ” to defend America and the constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic”. By turning on that oath they have made themselves TRAITORS and should be charged as such and receive the max penalty for it. I will never vote democrat. May God save his country America.
Buh-bye now!!🤪
Good riddance. Dont let the door hit you in the ass as you leave. Don’t come back either. Dont go away mad just go away.
Bye bye
Bye bye don’t let the door hit you as you leave out
Good riddance!
If any of these celebrates had any guts they’d stick around. Because if it’s as bad as they believe, the average person it stuck. Rats desert a sinking ship.
IF they had any guts they’d stay and try to make things better. The irony is the people they voted for and propped up for four years are the reasons there is no peace. Bunch of self-important gutless wonders. Just go already.
Don’t let the door hit you in the bum.
“Pantoliano and his wife, former model Nancy Sheppard, recently spent several weeks in Portugal—and they’re now seriously considering making it home.”
A ‘Go Fund Me’ can be initiated today, and you could be on your merry way by mid-May. And as for “beloved actor”, you’re a midlevel character actor who recites words someone else writes for you; your career accomplishments hardly a pimple on a mosquito’s arse.