Sean Penn

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Birthday:

17 August 1960, Santa Monica, California, USA

Birth Name:

Sean Justin Penn

Height:

173 cm

Sean Penn is a powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work, who has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career, and who has drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.Sean Justin Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the second son of actress Eileen Ryan (née Annucci) and director, actor, and writer Leo Penn. His brother was actor Chris Penn. His father was from a Lithuanian Jewish/Russian Jewish family, and his mother is of half Italian and half Irish descent.Penn first appeared in roles as strong-headed or unruly youths such as the military cadet defending his academy against closure in Taps (1981), then as fast-talking surfer stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).Fans and critics were enthused about his obvious talent and he next contributed a stellar performance alongside Timothy Hutton in the Cold War spy thriller The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), followed by a teaming with icy Christopher Walken in the chilling At Close Range (1986). The youthful Sean then paired up with his then wife, pop diva Madonna in the woeful, and painful, Shanghai Surprise (1986), which was savaged by the critics, but Sean bounced back with a great job as a hot-headed young cop in Colors (1988), gave another searing performance as a US soldier in Vietnam committing atrocities in Casualties of War (1989) and appeared alongside Robert De Niro in the uneven comedy We're No Angels (1989). However, the 1990s was the decade in which Sean really got noticed by critics as a mature, versatile and accomplished actor, with a string of dynamic performances in first-class films.Almost unrecognisable with frizzy hair and thin rimmed glasses, Penn was simply brilliant as corrupt lawyer David Kleinfeld in the Brian De Palma gangster movie Carlito's Way (1993) and he was still in trouble with authority as a Death Row inmate pleading with a caring nun to save his life in Dead Man Walking (1995), for which he received his first Oscar nomination. Sean then played the brother of wealthy Michael Douglas, involving him in a mind-snapping scheme in The Game (1997) and also landed the lead role of Sgt. Eddie Walsh in the star-studded anti-war film The Thin Red Line (1998), before finishing the 1990s playing an offbeat jazz musician (and scoring another Oscar nomination) in Sweet and Lowdown (1999).The gifted and versatile Sean had also moved into directing, with the quirky but interesting The Indian Runner (1991), about two brothers with vastly opposing views on life, and in 1995 he directed Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard (1995). Both films received overall positive reviews from critics. Moving into the new century, Sean remained busy in front of the cameras with even more outstanding work: a mentally disabled father fighting for custody of his seven-year-old daughter (and receiving a third Oscar nomination) for I Am Sam (2001); an anguished father seeking revenge for his daughter's murder in the gut-wrenching Clint Eastwood-directed Mystic River (2003) (for which he won the Oscar as Best Actor); a mortally ill college professor in 21 Grams (2003) and a possessed businessman in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004).Certainly Sean Penn is one of Hollywood's most controversial, progressive and gifted actors. Show less «

[Discussing Oliver Stone] I think that his basic pig nature keeps him from doing the best of what he ought to do. And it keeps him from bein...Show more »

[Discussing Oliver Stone] I think that his basic pig nature keeps him from doing the best of what he ought to do. And it keeps him from being someone I want to run into. Show less «

Hollywood is much more creatively corrupt than it is economically [corrupt]. It takes $1 for them to kill their dreams. Their dreams are wor...Show more »

Hollywood is much more creatively corrupt than it is economically [corrupt]. It takes $1 for them to kill their dreams. Their dreams are worth more than $1. Show less «

I had a house burn down once, and everything in life burned, except my family, and it was so liberating. I didn't have a bad moment about it...Show more »

I had a house burn down once, and everything in life burned, except my family, and it was so liberating. I didn't have a bad moment about it. It sort of reinvigorated my interest in a lot of things. I wonder if there should be some kind of anarchy. Show less «

I can never get ahead of the game because of the movies I do.

You build a cage based on your sense of the truth and your sense of the aspects of the character that need to tell the story. If you've done...Show more »

You build a cage based on your sense of the truth and your sense of the aspects of the character that need to tell the story. If you've done your job right, which I've had varying degrees of success doing at different times in my life, then you're able to function very freely within that cage. Show less «

I was brought up in a country that relished fear-based religion, corrupt government and an entire white population living on stolen property...Show more »

I was brought up in a country that relished fear-based religion, corrupt government and an entire white population living on stolen property that they murdered for and that is passed on from generation to generation. Show less «

The major studios are by and large banks and they give you what is by and large a loan to make a movie. Like banks, they want their money ba...Show more »

The major studios are by and large banks and they give you what is by and large a loan to make a movie. Like banks, they want their money back plus. Show less «

E.L. Doctorow had a quote I've used a lot of times, that the responsibility of the artist is to know the time in which he lives.

I think it's really important to be able to feel your own life, and I had felt so numbed by what had been a kind of surreal saturation of wh...Show more »

I think it's really important to be able to feel your own life, and I had felt so numbed by what had been a kind of surreal saturation of what was going on in the Middle East and what it was going to mean, particularly relative to my kids' future and things like that. Show less «

Your life is what you bring to any story. This is a life craft. It's "How do you feel? Who are you? What do you have to say?"

The horror of the Academy Awards is what the press does leading up to it, to make it a popular TV show. Where they'll actually make it like ...Show more »

The horror of the Academy Awards is what the press does leading up to it, to make it a popular TV show. Where they'll actually make it like it's an arm- wrestling event between two actors. That becomes very petty, and that's something that's embarrassing to follow up with accepting the invitation to the party. Show less «

I've always operated under the notion that audiences don't always know when they're being lied to, but that they always know when they're be...Show more »

I've always operated under the notion that audiences don't always know when they're being lied to, but that they always know when they're being told the truth. If there are what I think are unsung truths to be talked about in a film, through a character, through a story, and that dominates the piece, that's the key for me. I think the biggest thing is to not participate in the damaging, lying cinema. Show less «

I don't consider myself specifically political, you know? I think of working as an actor as being a human thing. The concerns I have that fa...Show more »

I don't consider myself specifically political, you know? I think of working as an actor as being a human thing. The concerns I have that fall into politics are human concerns. Show less «

The bigger issue is that it's an absolutely stupid notion that you should take the title of someone's profession and attach it to what they ...Show more »

The bigger issue is that it's an absolutely stupid notion that you should take the title of someone's profession and attach it to what they should not do. It has nothing to do with citizenry. Show less «

There's an interesting parallel between Bush [George W. Bush] and Richard Nixon. While Nixon was clearly a superior statesman and in many wa...Show more »

There's an interesting parallel between Bush [George W. Bush] and Richard Nixon. While Nixon was clearly a superior statesman and in many ways a more intelligent politician, what they share is a kind of boldness in how they emote their insecurities. What we're finding with George Bush, part of what's familiar to people and that adds to his likability for many, is that there's a commonality of deep insecurity and his handling it with a kind of bravado. What they both did is handle things with a similar certainty - certainty being the "disease of kings". Show less «

If the primary statement of the film is that if you have good abs it's OK to kill people, I pass.

[1999] Nic Cage [Nicolas Cage] is no longer an actor. He's more like a performer.

[on his marriage to Madonna] She was in the process of becoming the biggest star in the world. I just wanted to make my films and hide. I wa...Show more »

[on his marriage to Madonna] She was in the process of becoming the biggest star in the world. I just wanted to make my films and hide. I was an angry young man. I had a lot of demons and don't really know who could've lived with me at the time. I was just as badly behaved as her, so I can't point the finger of blame. Show less «

I became an actor because of Robert De Niro.

(on his role in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)) It was the hardest thing I've ever done. My wife thinks it's the best. I don't ca...Show more »

(on his role in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)) It was the hardest thing I've ever done. My wife thinks it's the best. I don't call it my best, because either I've done something well or I haven't. I think I did this one well. I'd go back and fix some things in everything I've done. Usually, if I've done something really well, I'd only re-shoot half the film. Show less «

[on Madonna] I met her on the shoot of that video ["Material Girl"]. Madonna had done "Like a Virgin", so she was a phenom, but nothing coul...Show more »

[on Madonna] I met her on the shoot of that video ["Material Girl"]. Madonna had done "Like a Virgin", so she was a phenom, but nothing could have told anybody what would happen next. I describe that marriage as loud. That's how I remember it. And frankly, I don't recall having a single conversation in four years of marriage. I've talked to her a couple of times since, and there's a whole person there. I just didn't know it. Show less «

This might be the last thing anybody would see, but I'm probably shy. I've never gone to a party where I didn't drink alcohol. I have a grea...Show more »

This might be the last thing anybody would see, but I'm probably shy. I've never gone to a party where I didn't drink alcohol. I have a great time, but I'm not comfortable. My straight nature is not very social. That doesn't mean I haven't caught myself being terribly arrogant. Show less «

With the Academy Awards, if you're standing there and looking out, you're not going to see many people who can find their butt with their ha...Show more »

With the Academy Awards, if you're standing there and looking out, you're not going to see many people who can find their butt with their hand. Show less «

I don't like any directors. I don't get along with any of them. Mostly I think they're a bunch of whiny people without any point of view. So...Show more »

I don't like any directors. I don't get along with any of them. Mostly I think they're a bunch of whiny people without any point of view. So I don't want to be around them at six o'clock in the morning with make-up and bells on. And I'm probably the same way for the actors on my set - but that's their problem. Show less «

[interview with Lynn Darling, 1991] The Madonna stuff just made it clear. After it was over, I could see what was left that I was in control...Show more »

[interview with Lynn Darling, 1991] The Madonna stuff just made it clear. After it was over, I could see what was left that I was in control of. I'm very fond of my ex-wife, but at 24, I didn't realize the difference between a great first date and a lifetime commitment. Show less «

[on Clint Eastwood] He's one of the few legends who isn't a disappointment.

[on how selections will be made while being the head jury member at Cannes in 2008] The best way to be honest is to try to emancipate oursel...Show more »

[on how selections will be made while being the head jury member at Cannes in 2008] The best way to be honest is to try to emancipate ourselves from the effects of fashion, to try to find what will stay with us forever. We've got to do the opposite of the Academy that gives out the Oscars, where manipulation and very good marketing are rewarded. Show less «

[2008, on his love of road trips] I've been a road-rat since I got my drivers license at 16, so I've probably gone across America 20 times.

[backing Woody Harrelson for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar] The Messenger (2009) is one of those rare platforms for a familiar American acto...Show more »

[backing Woody Harrelson for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar] The Messenger (2009) is one of those rare platforms for a familiar American actor to reinvent himself. Woody Harrelson conjures a heart and presence of previously untapped immensity and emotional power. He deserves a BIG nod. He's done the hardest thing an actor can do. He's made something new. Show less «

Let's face it. I'm a person that feels pretty alienated from the rest of the world and never felt understood by anyone.

(On Daniel Day-Lewis): He may very well be the greatest actor ever recorded to the screen.

[on Woody Allen] didn't ask to see or know anything [about my character] until he rolled the camera. His feeling is that the best, complete ...Show more »

[on Woody Allen] didn't ask to see or know anything [about my character] until he rolled the camera. His feeling is that the best, complete thing he's going to get is going to come out of the actor's instinct. And what he finds out on day one is whether or not he cast it well. Show less «

I do think that, in general, the standard of aspiration is low. Very low. And mostly they're just doing a bunch of monkey-fuck-rat movies, m...Show more »

I do think that, in general, the standard of aspiration is low. Very low. And mostly they're just doing a bunch of monkey-fuck-rat movies, most actors and actresses. And I blame them just as much as I do the business. I know everybody wants to make some money, everybody's got a modeling contract, everybody's selling jewelry and perfume. I'm blinded by it. Show less «

In my teens, I fell in love with the movies. And so when I got involved I was a genius in terms of how the movies that were made in the gene...Show more »

In my teens, I fell in love with the movies. And so when I got involved I was a genius in terms of how the movies that were made in the generation that inspired me got made. But the financing wasn't there to do 'em anymore. Trauma. I'm caught in a business that I'm in love with the idea of - the whole process that's possible. Only now they're not making movies - they're representing them. Show less «

[on decadence in Hollywood culture] I think you're talking about a human weakness that's pervasive in all cultures of business, whether it b...Show more »

[on decadence in Hollywood culture] I think you're talking about a human weakness that's pervasive in all cultures of business, whether it be Hollywood or others. They talk about the drug culture, for example, in Hollywood. I've never gone anywhere that I didn't see a similar drug culture. We look everywhere to try and make a darkened penny a shiny one, and you're going to have both in your pocket. Show less «

I think guns are not something to be missed. Especially, on a serious note, when we talk about it this week, this tragic thing that happened...Show more »

I think guns are not something to be missed. Especially, on a serious note, when we talk about it this week, this tragic thing that happened in Paris. I'd like to see more guns go to sculpture. I'd like to see it happen. I don't know that we've come to a time where we can be a gunless society, but we're certainly not working the way we're flying with them. Show less «

Voting for Donald Trump is the equivalent of masturbating your way into Hell while supporting a guy who looks like a blonde magician.