Actor Alec Baldwin, known more for his off-screen controversies than his on-screen performances, is once again lecturing Americans on what he perceives as their intellectual shortcomings.

The 66-year-old disgraced Hollywood figure, freshly cleared of involuntary manslaughter charges in the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set, declared that Americans are "uninformed about reality" and need Hollywood to educate them.

Speaking at the Torino Film Festival while accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award, Baldwin claimed that Americans are incapable of understanding critical global issues like climate change, the conflict in Israel, or the war in Ukraine.

"Television news in the United States is a business. They have to make money… There's a hole. There's a vacuum. There is a gap, if you will, in information for Americans," he said.

"Americans are very uninformed about reality – what's really going on. With climate change, Ukraine, Israel… You name it, all the biggest topics in the world, Americans have an appetite for a little bit of information," the disgraced actor added.

The actor suggested that the answer to America's perceived ignorance lies in the hands of filmmakers, streaming giants, and Hollywood. According to Baldwin, "narrative films" and the "independent film industry" are the only means to educate the masses.

"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 by narrative films, as well. Where the film-makers and the buyers, the studios, and the networks and the streamers, are willing to go that way. They're willing to try it—not only entertainment but informative as well."