Interview Quotes

On Public Discourse and Connection

"No. No, I don't. I think it is the fashion of the public debate. Mm-hmm. But I find that when, in 90% of cases, that in fact, everybody is hungering to dismiss that disconnect."

— Sean Penn • 00:38:03

"It seems like such a distant memory. Yeah, it didn't work. It didn't work. Yeah, it seems that we can't do that, right? I mean, do you find that it's more difficult to have conversations with people you don't agree with now?"

— Sean Penn • 00:36:55

Reflections on Past Encounters and Perceptions

"Well, we talked about fatherhood. Fatherhood? Yeah. It was like, oh, I can tell you, I can, I can time capsule it for you, because it was approximately two to three weeks after then President Bush, uh, said, I looked into his eyes, and I felt I could trust him. And I have to say, when I say that, I, I was conned also. I've, I felt that there was something genuine there."

— Sean Penn • 00:52:36

"Yeah. Who seems to be about to poison you with whatever this is. When was this?"

— Sean Penn • 00:48:59

"Everyone is a fan. In fact, what was very funny at one point, because just to his left off, off that shot was, um, the man who had written the, their, um, national anthem for Stalin. He, his age was roughly dead. He, he, he, he didn't say a single word when we were introduced to him."

— Sean Penn • 01:07:58

On Craft and Collaboration

"Brad Pitt's a very discerning man."

— Sean Penn • 01:22:20

"I think that, um, among the colleagues that I, that I've had sort of around this kind of a conversation with, it tends to be mutual. Uh, and if not initially, because perhaps they are newer actors. Uh-huh, right. They don't know their work well. That, you know, when someone, uh, feels that the other person is talented, there's, uh, an excitement in that."

— Sean Penn • 01:30:43

"Uh, uh, absolutely. Sure. And also, you, you know, you're there taking a big chunk of your life committed to something that takes a lot of concentration. And, um, it, it, it, if the movie, as a whole, or the play as a whole isn't working, um, you've wasted your time a little bit more."

— Sean Penn • 01:36:49

"This one, as a movie fan, I see people, no one should miss this movie. This guy, Paul Thomas Anderson, is touched and, and really, really, it's so, he has absolutely no relationship with convention."

— Sean Penn • 03:02:06

Personal Quirks and Preferences

"It tends to have a lot of hidden compartments in it. Okay."

— Sean Penn • 01:53:38

"Generally from 5:30 in the morning till about midnight."

— Sean Penn • 02:01:54

"I like, I want to earn a gravestone that says a squared away individual. That's my goal in life."

— Sean Penn • 02:24:22

"Find something you love and let it kill you."

— Sean Penn • 03:49:07

On Parenthood and Naming Choices

"That is true. That is true."

— Sean Penn • 03:26:44

"Correct. And that was rejected, uh, obviously."

— Sean Penn • 03:27:57

"Hopper was number two. Yeah, I think so."

— Sean Penn • 03:30:58

Aspirations and Admirations

"Well, I'll say one for you. Marty Scorsese. Yes, please. Yes."

— Sean Penn • 03:40:08

"I did. He was very generous. I had directed, the first movie I directed, you kind of, you get to the end that and you say, oh, now I know what to look for."

— Sean Penn • 03:43:58

"I, I, um, I, um, I, I, I, I'm... Marty, please call."

— Sean Penn • 03:42:39