Sean Penn is one of the most supremely talented actor-director who has acted in and directed dozens of blockbuster films that have helped him cement his top-level spot in showbiz. Despite being a super hardworking talent, Penn often made headlines for his controversial remarks, which have found him in the spotlight on several occasions. The actor has led a flourishing career and collaborated with some of the finest directors on their passion projects.
In addition to his acting career, his work behind the camera as a finest filmmaker has served him well in the entertainment industry. In 2003, the actor starred in the Clint Eastwood-directed American neo-noir crime drama film Mystic River, which earned him Academy Award.
The California native star once shared an intriguing anecdote revealing his experience working with Eastwood in the record-smashing flick. The actor claimed that he learned a lot of things from him but was stunned to watch him helming the project effortlessly, which he found “very unusual.”
Sean Penn Claims Clint Eastwood’s Directing Skills Remain a Mystery to Him
Sean Penn has built his impressive filmography by working in many monumental and epic films that earned him recognition and top billings. Penn has collaborated with many top-echel on directors in the movie business, including award-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood, who even, at 93, thriving to make films and entertain fans with his projects. It’s natural for actors to learn and observe things that they find inspiring when working with their co-stars and directors on their shared movie sets.
The same was the case for the 62-year-old actor-director who found Eastwood’s directing skills highly unusual and once shared what he learned from him while working with him on their film Mystic River. In a candid interview with Rolling Stone, the actor cannot help but gush about his film director’s skills saying,
“Clint [Eastwood] is a very unusual case. The only thing I learned from him [on Mystic River] was the value of a sense of calm and quiet on a set. How he makes a movie is a mystery to me.”
Sean Penn further told the outlet that he was startled by how Clint Eastwood wrapped up the movie within a few weeks, as he explained:
“I remember checking into a hotel in Boston to start on the very first day of shooting. Nine weeks later, from that day, the entire movie was finished — including the score that he wrote and recorded! This year, two major pictures, and acting in one of them? I don’t know how he does it.”
The actor shared that he was shocked by Eastwood’s ways and methods of directing movies, as well as how multi-talented he is, claiming he doesn’t understand how he made movies and appearing in films at the same time is anything but inspiring.
Sean Penn Nearly Rejected Mystic River, Which Earned Him an Oscar
In an interview, Sean Penn revealed that when director Clint Eastwood offered him the script of his award-winning movie Mystic River, he wasn’t interested in doing this movie, claiming he found the theme too similar to what he had done previously. The actor shared,
“Clint Eastwood handed me a script and said, ‘Read it and see what you think.’ I wasn’t interested because the theme was too similar to a movie I’d just made. But I really like Clint, and we’ve had a lot of chuckles. A year later, he called again, and I figured, ‘This guy will never talk to you again if you turn him down. I got about ten pages into the script when I called him and said, ‘This just hammers me.’”
Clint Eastwood-directed Mystic River earned critical acclaim and was a hit movie featuring Sean Penn as James Jimmy Markum, among other actors who did a phenomenal job. Penn won Oscar for his remarkable performance in the movie, and since then, he has starred in many blockbuster films.