It was one of the highlights of an eventful 98th Academy Awards evening when Sean Penn, the winner of the Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another, was not present to accept his award. Even as presenter Kieran Culkin kept it light in accepting the honour on his behalf, many wondered why Sean Penn did not attend the ceremony, where he was a favourite to win.
Sean Penn skips Oscars for Ukraine
A video that emerged hours later cleared all that. On Monday, Sean was spotted stepping out of a train carriage in central Kyiv, thousands of miles away from the glitz of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars were held.
The 65-year-old actor skipped Sunday’s ceremony to travel to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the war-battered capital. Ukraine’s state railway operator posted a short video clip of the three-time Oscar winner getting out of the train in the morning, saying it had kept his trip a secret until the very last moment. “Now we can say it officially: Sean Penn chose Ukraine over the Oscars!” it said on its Facebook page.
Later in the day, President Zelenskyy posted a picture of himself meeting the actor at the presidential office in Kyiv. The photo showed the black-clad president speaking with Penn, who wore a T-shirt and jeans. There were no immediate details on their conversation.
“Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is. You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram app.
The city is right now heavily barricaded because of the country’s ongoing war against Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Sean Penn has visited Ukraine several times in the last two years. A long-time advocate for Ukraine, Sean Penn filmed a documentary about Russia’s invasion that premiered in February 2023. Penn also lent Zelenskyy, a former comedian and actor, one of his other Oscars in 2022.
Sean Penn’s historic Oscar win
On Sunday, Sean Penn became only the fourth male actor to win three Oscars for acting. The veteran star won the Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of an unhinged, obsessed army Colonel in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. He had previously won the Best Actor trophies for Mystic River and Milk. His third win ties Sean with Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, and Walter Brennan for most acting wins for male stars. Katherine Hepburn leads the overall list with four wins.
(With inputs from Reuters)
