He's called "the worst guy in Hollywood." Someone considers him an intellectual and a rebel. Someone - an ordinary hooligan, albeit with charisma. And the magazine "Time" for several consecutive years persistently calls Penn the best actor in America. Even now, when Penn's conflict with the authorities seems to have reached a critical stage. And although the whole world claims that Sean Penn is a Hollywood hooligan, he is still loved and respected by millions. Who is he really? Read about it below.
Difficult child.
Sean Penee was born on August 17, 1960 in a "cinematic" family. Father - director Leo Penee, mother - actress Helen Ryan. Both brothers, Michael and Chris, also showed themselves as creative natures: one became a musician, the second actor. But none of the brothers brought so much glory to the family, and neither one delivered so many problems to the parents as an evil and aggressive Sean. Even in his childhood, he had such wild attacks of rage that the mother even turned to the doctors. But the boy did not find any serious deviations. They tried to give antidepressants, but they were of no use. Sean became stiff and lethargic, and as soon as he stopped swallowing pills, he again began to rage and rush at others around the slightest occasion ... And without an excuse, just under a bad mood. Need I say that the neighbors and classmates did not much love Sean Penn in those years? Adolescence Sean spent in Santa Monica, went to the same school with the children of Martin Sheen: Charlie Sheen and Emilio Esteves. Then he became friends with them and with Nicolas Cage - the friendship lasted a long time, until Penn himself did not destroy it. The first woman in the life of Sean Penn was also an actress and star - Susan Sarandon. They met at some Hollywood party. Susan at that time was alone, Sean liked her ... And they went to her house together. But these relations were short-lived and did not receive any development. Susan was not only too grown up for Sean, but also too smart and self-sufficient. It was only Shawn once to arrange a scandal for her and show proprietary instincts - and the famous mistress drove him away. And to return and ask for forgiveness Sean did not allow then still indomitable ambition. In addition, he did not really like Susan and was not even in love with her as he later fell in love with Madonna.
Like most Hollywood children, Sean Penn did not imagine a profession other than acting, and, of course, it was very easy for him to get his film debut. The first time on the screen, he appeared in 1981 in the film "Taps", where he played a cadet. Then there was a teenage comedy "Rapid changes in the school" Ridgemont ". And a year later - the first major role in the film "Bad Guys", which now seems directly symbolic. And yet the main event of his youth should be considered not roles in the cinema, but a romance and the subsequent marriage with the megastar Madonna, which happened when he was twenty-four, and she was twenty-seven years old. If Sean had not become a hero of so many scandalous reports, perhaps he would not have become so famous and would not have had the chance to pursue a career.
Madonna's dream, a thunderstorm of reporters.
Madonna always attracted dangerous men, and Sean considered her simply the embodiment of female beauty and sexuality (like most men in the period when Veronica Louise Ciccone was on the crest of fame). Their love began with a fight. True, for the first time Sean fought not with Madonna herself, but with journalists who attacked her at the exit from the recording studio. One of the paparazzi pushed the singer, and Penn, who only that day had the good fortune to get acquainted personally with Madonna, was enraged. He began to throw the journalists, and then - threw them in them, either with bricks, or with some other heavy objects that were at his fingertips. As a result, he was arrested and imprisoned. But Sean was not in vnaklade, because the heart of the Madonna now belonged to him - and at that time, she even believed that forever. While Penn was sitting, Madonna properly studied his interview, paying special attention to his statements about women, and he stated that he loved lovely home modest, submissive male will. Of course, this was contrary to the usual stage and even life image of Veronica Louise Ciccone, but ... Waiting for the release of Sean, she invited him to her house and appeared in front of him in a "home" form, without make-up and in normal clothes, his obedience to him - and it was done. Sean was caught.
The wedding took place on August 16, 1985. Sean wanted everything to go quietly and modestly, with a minimum of close friends. Madonna insisted on the ceremony lush and luxurious. And in the morning the newlyweds were awakened by the chirp of a helicopter: it was the press circling the nest of a celebrity spouse's nest ... Enraged Peni jumped out onto the roof and started shooting at the helicopters from the revolver, but fortunately for the journalists and for himself did not hit. Then he ran to the beach and in huge letters wrote on the coastal sand curses at the paparazzi.
Family horrors.
Madonna admired the violent temper of Sean and in the first months of family life diligently played along with him, portraying the "domestic kitty." She refused concerts, profitable tours, recording clips. And even the scripts of films, the roles in which they offered her, gave for approval to her husband. And Shawn wanted Madonna to be "just a wife" - and she would script the scripts one by one, except for the comedy "Shanghai Surprise", in which they were filming together, which means that he could keep an eye on his beloved. Sean continued to vehemently defend his wife from journalists. How many chambers and persons he had broken before the complaints of the press representatives reached the authorities! He fought with David Volinsky only because the composer kissed Madonna ... And, in the end, Sean was again put. Not for long, however, for 90 days, and only 32 days later released for exemplary behavior. Madonna rebelled when the "Shanghai Surprise" failed at the box office, and her husband's pictures of her husband's efforts ceased to appear in the press. She suddenly remembered that after all, first of all, the singer, and with a stellar status. And realized that because of Sean, he could lose all the won positions. Madonna decided to return to art: she began to perform concerts, to appear in clips.
Penn watched literally every step of his wife. Regularly arranged scandals. He demanded that she give up everything and give birth to a child. During one of the family scenes, Madonna confessed that she was already pregnant with him, but secretly had an abortion. Then Sean beat her for the first time, and then began to beat regularly. When he needed to leave for New York, he hired three black bodyguards and instructed them to follow Madonna everywhere and report on all her movements. Then he even forbade his wife to leave the house in his absence. Once Madonna looked in the cellar, where Sean had a shooting gallery, and with horror discovered that the targets for shooting were photographs of Warren Beatty, Prince and ... herself! Another time, Shawn excommunicated his wife, tied him to a chair and left him for two days. And at Christmas, when all the servants were released. Madonna managed to board on the chair to the phone and dial 911 with her finger. Sheriff Malibu arrived to rescue the star. And similar episodes happened a lot before the cup of Madonna's patience overflowed so much that she demanded not just a divorce, but at all to annul her three-year marriage with Sean Penn, as if they were not married at all. The court recognized her claims as justified, and Sean could not calm down for a long time and reiterated in all interviews that he loved, simply adored Madonna.
Career of the bad guy.
If not love, then at least thank Sean Penn was to keep his whole life for his ex-wife: the boy who became familiar in the secular chronicle was invited to one film project after another, the name of the Hollywood hooligan was an additional means of attracting the public. And now Sean appeared with Robert de Niro and Demi Moore in the film "We Are not Angels", with Charlie Sheen in Justice in Berlin (delivered by Sean's father, Leo Penn). Brian de Palma took it in the films "War Losses" and "The Way of Carlito". Sean worked with his first love Susan Sarandon in the movie Dead Man Goes, where her husband Tim Robbins became director. By the way, for the role of a nun in this film, Susan received an Oscar, and Sean so brilliantly played the rapist and murderer that was nominated, although he did not receive a prize, and critics began to call him the most significant of the young actors of Hollywood.
Almost everywhere he played gloomy personalities with a difficult fate. "Penn is one of the few actors for whom art is more important than profit. He is ready to work for a pittance in an interesting project and with interesting actors. And he will not even agree to appear in the film for the most money, which he considers unworthy and uninteresting. It was this that led to the collapse of his friendship with Nicolas Cage. Sean said that Nicholas "sold with giblets and is now removed in disgusting paintings," and Kage did not forgive him this. Subsequently, Nicolas Cage played in projects from which Sean Penn refused: "Rock" and "Gone in 60 seconds." And from Sean Penn himself, all the works were like a selection: bright, evocative critics, but not particularly lucrative: "The Game", "The Thin Red Line", "Being John Malkovich," "I'm Sam," "Sweet and Ugly" (for this film he was again nominated for an Oscar), "The Mysterious River" (for which he "Oscar" still got). The presence of his name in the credits became, as it were, a sign of quality for the film - and at the same time a sign that the cinema is ambiguous and "not for everyone".
Sean Penn tried himself in directing, and not without success. His first film was "Indian Runner", immediately attracted the attention of critics. For the role in "The Guard at the Crossroads," Sean invited Jack Nicholson, and they became friends on the set that Nicholson agreed to appear in another Penn movie - "Promise" based on the novel by Friedrich Dürrenmath. And Sean taught at the acting courses organized by Marlon Brando, and the great actor called him his spiritual son. Sean became the youngest cinematographer who won the "For the Whole of his Life" award at the International Film Festival in San Sebastian.
The young lady and the hooligan.
As for the affairs of the heart, after the break with Madonna, Sean became friends with actress Robin Wright, who recently refused to work successfully in the series "Santa Barbara" and trying to make a career in Hollywood. A thin blonde, Robin was a favorite type of Penn, besides, she did not have to pretend to be a homely and meek woman. She really was this and everything else very intelligent, from a good family, perfectly educated ... For Robin, the love of the "Hollywood hooligan" was simply a life catastrophe, because she had to endure so much from him! Starting with the fact that Sean Penn was not going to never marry again and publicly announced this, and ending with his constant betrayals and boorish behavior in everyday life. But Robin loved and tolerated. She obeyed Shaun in everything, obediently obeyed all his demands and prohibitions, accepted career advice, gave birth to his daughter Dilaynu Francis and her son, who was named Hopper Jack in honor of Penn's two friends: Denis Hopper and Jack Nicholson.
Penn was so little appreciated by Robin that he once said in a television interview in response to a question about his personal life: "I'm tired of Robin Wright ..." It thundered all over the country, and then she could not stand it: she took the children and left. And she resolutely refused any contact with Sean Penn. Even on phone calls did not answer, not to mention the meetings. Sean was shocked. He absolutely did not expect this from his meek girlfriend. He believed that he could afford everything and Robin would accept it and would continue to love him. After all, he is so wonderful and unique, and she ... just a woman for whom happiness is simply to live next to him! At first, Sean raged, then suddenly realized that he was terribly short of Robin and the children. But it was impossible to do anything. Sean through the lawyer made Robin give him permission to meet with the children, but he could not force her to return. Still, Sean managed to figure out how to work on Robin: through actor's vanity, with which no representative of this creative profession is able to fight. He offered Robin Wright a major role in the film John Cassavetes Jr. "She's Beautiful". And he himself put the director on the condition: either Robin is removed as a heroine, or he, Sean, will not work on this film for the very modest fee that was offered to him. Cassavetes agreed. Robin Wright too was unable to refuse. There was reconciliation on the set. And after the shooting, Shawn and Robin got married.
The politicized star.
Surprisingly, Sean Penn could be the perfect husband for Robin Wright and the perfect father for her children. Now there are no scandals in the family. And he directs all his turbulent energy to the political struggle. He is called "the most politicized movie star of the United States." "If a voice is given to me, to which someone listens, I consider it my duty to make it sound. I do not think that in this best of the worlds one can be a respected and self-respecting artist and not speak out on the essence of the problems that torment him. We live in a world where people die every day, and we sit and watch TV! Sean Penn screams fiercely into the microphone during a press conference. "And if they do not let me express themselves on the screen, I will not remain silent anyway!" And he does not say anything. However, despite the frank negativity on the part of the authorities and some (although very sluggish, democratic country!) Attempts at pressure, it does not hinder its self-expression. Yes, it would not have been possible: on the side of Penna the whole thinking part of the cinematic public. He is still invited by intelligent filmmakers to ambiguous roles. He played a real estate trader Samuel Baik who committed in February 1974 an attempt to assassinate the 37th president of America in the film "The Murder of Richard Nixon." This was considered very symbolic, because Penn was so aggressively attacked in his speeches on the last two presidents ... But then he appeared in the role of an intelligence agent, which no one expected from him! It's true that Sean played in the film a very revered Sidney Pollack "The Interpreter", where his partner was Nicole Kidman. Then Sean agreed to participate in the remake of the well-known drama-political plot "The whole royal army", along with the other recognized stars on the set: Jude Law, Keith Winslet, Anthony Hopkins ... However, it was Penn who appeared in the title role. And he again plays a grim man with a difficult fate. This he does best.