Morrocco: With a cigarette hanging casually from his mouth and his trademark shifty, nervous energy, Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn didn’t shy away from controversy at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
At a press conference held on the sidelines of the festival earlier this week, the talent called out the Academy Awards for their "extraordinary cowardice" in a no-holds-barred conversation that touched on activism, filmmaking, and his method while playing a character in a film.
Here is his take on …
Oscars and the Hollywood awards season:
Penn was unapologetic in his critique of the Academy Awards, calling out the institution’s limitations in representing diverse cultural expressions and its failure to embrace bolder, more imaginative films. They are at best “television shows”, he adds.
"The producers of the Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression and, in fact, had largely been part of limiting the imagination and being very limiting of different cultural expressions. So I don’t get very excited about the Academy Awards except when a film like Florida Project graces it, or I’m Still Here graces it."
Penn also expressed skepticism about the industry’s obsession with award campaigns, comparing the expenditure on campaigns to the more modest budgets of smaller films he admires.
Being labelled an activist:
While Penn is often described as an activist, he rejected the label, explaining that his approach to social and humanitarian work is more pragmatic than ideological.
"I’ve never found myself comfortable, for example, with the word activist or humanitarian. I always just feel like whether it’s as an actor or any of the other kinds of work or public positions that I take, I always felt more like a plumber who felt like I understood the leak a little bit. Speaking out isn’t in all capitals the same way for all people. Whatever one is doing, whatever actions one takes in life—from the small but gigantically important ones with the family to whatever their relationship is in public or the world—we find our own way."
When asked to offer advice to younger generations struggling to balance activism with their roles as artists, Penn’s response was pointed:
"Never use social media for yourself. I think people should find ways to give their opinion without being afraid, but it’s better to focus on direct action than the performative aspects of activism."
On the state of cinema:
Penn lamented the decline of thoughtful, intimate films in mainstream cinema, noting how the rise of streaming platforms has shifted viewing habits.
"The business is putting only the razzle-dazzle and Cirque du Soleil of genre films on the big screens. It’s very hard to get thoughtful films there. What I find as an impact is that people like me don’t go to the movies anymore. The good writing is often on television now, or in the great little gems of films that sneak through. But when something sneaks through, it’s to be celebrated."
He also expressed a personal bias for the traditional cinema experience:
"The girl I fell in love with was the big screen alone, and all the strangers in a room. I’m still stuck there."
However, he acknowledged that streaming has democratized access to foreign films:
"One of the great things about streaming is that I am no longer stuck just seeing foreign films in one or two art theaters picking two, three movies a year. It has made the sharing of film internationally a good thing."
On filmmaking and preparing for roles:
Discussing his approach to acting, Penn emphasised the importance of adapting to a director’s vision and the demands of a role.
"Everything is different, and so much of it has to do with the way the director works. For example, with Clint Eastwood, what he’s most in love with is jazz music—improvised jazz music. He wants the magic to happen in the first take. So you prepare yourself differently for that than you would with a director who explores a role over multiple takes."
When asked how he chooses roles, Penn revealed his straightforward approach: "I gotta love something in the first 10 pages, or I’m out. It’s about the director first, and more and more, I like to work with people who suck less."
