Hollywood star Tomy Goldwyn believes that immigrants facing hard time in America

Hollywood star Tony Goldwyn, best known for his roles in "The Last Samurai" and hit TV show "Scandal", believes immigrants are facing a dark time today and there is a need to look at the crisis in a humane way.

The actor, whose paternal grandfather was Hollywood mogul Samuel Goldwyn, of Polish Jewish descent, says, unfortunately, immigrants are facing a lot of negativity.

"It is a global crisis. I think we are going through a very dark time. The reaction against immigrants, the whole debate on nationalism... I feel is very destructive. It is a very real issue. I hope we can find a way that is more humane than what is currently happening," Goldwyn told PTI in a telephonic interview from the US.

Having a famous grandfather in the film business, initially discouraged Goldwyn from pursuing anything in Hollywood but eventually, he caught the acting bug and there has been no looking back.

"Acting was not an obvious choice because I had a really famous grandfather. I wanted to do something completely different. But I guess it was in my genes and I was a victim of that. It was like I could not do anything else," the actor, who is equally adept at directing and writing, said.

If not showbiz, Goldwyn believes he would have become a psychiatrist "to understand people and what makes them tick".

"The Last Samurai", starring Tom Cruise as a US Army officer, who is initially inducted to fight Japan's Samurai but ends up sympathizing with their cause and embracing their traditions, turned 15 this year.

Goldwyn, who played cruel Colonel Bagley to Cruise's righteous Major Nathan Algren in the film, has fond memories of shooting the war drama.

"I had wanted to work with the director (Edward Zwick) for a while. We had been talking about doing a project together but nothing materialized for a long time. He then asked me to be a part of this film. I thought it was a beautiful script and I had always wanted to work with Tom Cruise. I thought my character came with an interesting challenge," he said while talking about "The Last Samurai", which will air on Sony PIX on September 9 at 1 p.m. as part of celebrations.

"You're seeing Bagley at his peak through Tom Cruise's eyes. In fact, Colonel Bagley's view of the world was very much the common view of the world at the time the movie takes place. It was an opportunity for me to play, represent how most people look at the world - the idea of crushing indigenous people to modernize the world. The film falls into the action genre. But it has incredible cultural depth."

Goldwyn, who recently featured as US President Fitzgerald Grant III in "Scandal", said like "The Last Samurai", the ABC political drama also gave him an opportunity to explore a multitude of "social themes".

When asked how the team incorporated Donald Trump's election as US president, the actor described the experience as "surreal".

Show creator Shonda Rhimes has earlier said she originally planned Fitz's character, that is, "to take a Republican president and make him human".

But this was the time when Barack Obama was still the president.

The show's cast, which had inclinations to then the Democrat president elect Hillary Clinton, was even rooting for her. But they were surprised by the result of the 2016 presidential campaign.

"'Scandal' started out in the United States as such a well-written show in the Obama years. In 2016, it all sort of changed when Trump came into power. Somewhere near our last season (it was) a very different context," Goldwyn said.

The show got in actor Gregg Henry to play Republican Hollis Doyle, who was modeled on Trump's personality, just months before the results.

It was reported that the team had shot the episodes showing Doyle's rise in July only to see Trump get elected in November.

"It was initially very disorienting but then... Quite interestingly, Shonda really changed the tone... My character left the White House and his ex-wife, Mellie Grant (played by Bellamy Young) became the female president (from the Republican party) while in reality we were denied a female president. It was very interesting to be a part of it," Goldwyn said.

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