The celebrated actor plays a US military officer with white supremacy on the brain in Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie, ‘One Battle After Another’.
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Sean Penn has shared his thoughts on the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, who died on 10 September after he was shot during an outdoor speech at Utah Valley University.
Penn stars in the new Paul Thomas Anderson film One Battle After Another, in which he plays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, a corrupt white supremacist military official hunting down the daughter (Chase Infiniti) of ex-revolutionaries (Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor).
When asked about the film’s cultural relevance, as the superb new drama is heavy with timely political subtext, the two-time Oscar winning actor and political activist said that he was “not surprised at all” by Kirk’s murder.
“Like a lot of people, I’ve been worrying that this kind of horror was moving towards coming into fashion,” he told Vanity Fair during an interview published on Wednesday but which took place just 24 hours after the shooting.
Penn added: “It’s disturbing enough that I would say I’m still processing it. And what its implications are.”
Penn has never been shy about speaking his mind when it comes to political matters, and has regularly criticised Donald Trump. This year, on an episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, the actor-director called Trump “the tough guy who never was.”
In the May episode, Penn and Theroux discussed the matter of Trump’s intelligence. Penn said: “What he values is so base. I won't equate that with intelligence. It's truly void of soul. And really - this is the other thing - it actively engages in cruelty often."
Penn is also a supporter of Ukraine, frequently visiting the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion and even presenting one of his Oscars to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In 2023, Superpower, a documentary Penn co-directed with Aaron Kaufman, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. The film profiles Zelenskyy’s atypical path to the presidency and his role as a war time head of state.
When asked whether he gravitates towards projects that speak to politics, Penn said: “E.L. Doctorow had a line: The responsibility of the artist is to know the time within which he lived. So somebody can make a period film, but in doing that, the good ones reflect something very current.”
He added, regarding One Battle After Another: “I think that this became exponentially more timely after production finished and we watched, kind of shaking our heads. It’s also a great thing that because he doesn’t have a conventional dependence on what satire is, the movie is malleable. It’s not dependent on being a far-fetched idea that makes us laugh. And now that some of it is not at all far-fetched it takes on a more full quality.”
Charlie Kirk’s death has prompted mourning, outrage and growing concern over free speech in the US.
Trump has blamed the “radical left” for Kirk’s death and threatened to go after liberal organisations or anyone who he feels are celebrating the activist’s death.
At Kirk’s public memorial service on Monday, Kirk’s widow said she forgave her husband’s killer. Trump, however, declared his “hate” for his opponents in a politically charged speech that has confirmed for many of his opponents that the president is politicising the death.
One Battle After Another is released in cinemas on Friday. Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for the full review, also out on Friday.
