Alec Baldwin has insisted Americans are "uninformed about reality"

Speaking at Torino Film Festival in a video shared by The Hollywood Reporter, he said: "There's a hole, a vacuum... a gap in information for Americans.

"Americans are very uninformed about reality, what's really going on - climate change, Ukraine, you name it.

"All the biggest topics in the world, Americans have an appetite for a little bit of information."

The 66-year-old actor argued that "information in America" is a "business", and there is a gap in the people's knowledge.

Alec insisted this is where Hollywood and the wider movie industry comes in.

He added: "That vacuum is filled by the film industry.

"Not just the independent film industry, not just the documentary film industry - which are very important around the world - but narrative films as well, where the filmmakers and the buyers, the studios and the networks and the streamers are willing to go that way."

On Hollywood as a whole, Alec said it was a "good thing" to have more women directing films, but insisted there is still a nuance to the issue.

He argued: "Of course, for some films you need an energetic director who moves the camera continuously and maybe a male director is better.

"But for a comedy or a drama with a lot of talk, what's the difference between a male director and a female director?"

Elsewhere in the press conference, the 'Rust' star addressed his own hopes for Donald Trump's new administration, as he insisted the President-elect has "many challenges to face".

He singled out "the environment, the problem of plastic, of permafrost" as "real problems" that need addressing, along with embracing renewable energy while accepting that oil and gas still have a place.