Sean Penn on Meeting ‘Reptilian’ Vladimir Putin and Trump’s ‘Angry Used Car Salesman’ Mug Shot
variety.comMatt Donnelly Senior Film Writer In his new documentary “Superpower,” Sean Penn assesses Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia and the meaning of the word “freedom” in a world gone mad.
He’s also revisits his own past with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a moment that Penn calls a dark memory from decades before he would meet up with embattled Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In the doc, Penn recalls a 2001 visit to the Moscow Film Festival where his directorial effort “The Pledge” was premiering. He and the film’s lead Jack Nicholson had a brief meeting with Putin, a photograph of which is shown in “Superpower.” “We did have a chance to talk for about 20 minutes of that night, one-on-one,” Penn told Variety during an on-camera interview about his Paramount Plus original, a companion to Stephen Rodrick’s lush profile of the actor for this week’s Variety cover. “President Bush had just recently had the famous meeting, where he said he looked [Putin] in the eyes and he knew he could trust him.
I don’t think that my insights were any deeper than President Bush’s,” said Penn. “I think he knew how to be impressive and to guide the conversation … he knew that I would be interested.
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