Sean Penn Rediscovered His Love of Acting With One Battle After Another

In Paul Thomas Anderson's political thriller One Battle After Another, Sean Penn steps fully into villain mode. He plays Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, a hardline military zealot whose authority is threatened when an immigration detention center he oversees is targeted by a group of left-wing revolutionaries, including Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) and her partner, Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio). A secret connection between Lockjaw and Perfidia reverberates throughout the film, setting the story on a collision course 16 years later. At the center of it all is Perfidia’s daughter, played by Chase Infiniti, whose existence draws Lockjaw back into a past he thought had been handled.

While One Battle After Another is only Penn and Anderson's second movie together—following 2021's Licorice Pizza—their friendship goes back decades. As Penn readily admits, working with Anderson helped shake off a long stretch of disillusionment with acting. His performance is electrifying—full of menace, rage, and humor—earning him a Golden Globe nod for best supporting actor, among the film’s nine total nods.

How did you meet Paul Thomas Anderson?

We’ve known each other for a very long time. My older brother scored his first two movies. Around 1990, my brother called and said he had a friend, a young director who had made a film, and would I give him some advice? When I look back on that today, it would be as if my brother asked me to call John Huston, one of the greatest directors of all time, to give him some advice.

We came close to working together before Licorice Pizza, which I was in. Paul offered me Punch-Drunk Love, the movie with Adam Sandler, but not the Adam Sandler part.

You were great in Licorice Pizza as Jack, who was based on the actor William Holden.

I thought I looked a bit bloated, but thank you. It was a charming movie. Bradley Cooper makes me giggle in that film. And I started hearing that Paul was going to send me another script. When he finally sent it to me, I was traveling and I took it with me. Late at night, still dripping wet from a shower, I grabbed it just to taste the opening pages. I sat there naked, laughing and really excited because Paul is always in totally different worlds. I thought to myself, Okay, he’s going there!

You play a military man in One Battle After Another. Did you do any special preparation?

Because of other aspects of my life, I’ve spent a lot of time around that culture. As for any preparation, this one felt like, “Shut up, Sean. Stay out of their way.”

Are you more like a cat or a dog?

Dog. But I do have a certain aloofness. I think Bob Dylan is credited with saying, “I’m not elusive, man. I’m exclusive.” I don’t get along with people in groups too much. I like small numbers of people to contend with. And, like a dog, I can be distracted by a bone that’s thrown. I am trying to train myself.

For a while, you seemed disillusioned with acting. That seems to have changed recently.

Eighteen years ago, when I did Milk, was the last time that I enjoyed the work. But you want to be participating in something that is of your current interest, and with people who are surprising. Because of Paul’s movie, I’m in a stage of liking acting. But I’ve always got carpentry to fall back on. And surfing.

Do you think there’s a connection between surfing and acting?

There was a surfer named Ben Aipa who said it was not about overpowering a wave but matching its power and finding that flow zone. That first read of Paul’s script was like sensing the wave and looking for a takeoff point. With a director like Paul, you're getting great guidance to that takeoff point. Then you just flow.

You’re a longtime smoker. When did you start?

I must have been 22. I saw myself as an un-addictable person. W. Somerset Maugham has a quote: "Men are vain, particularly young men." I was making a World War II–era movie called Racing with the Moon, and we were smoking unfiltered Ovals the whole time. After the shoot finished, this dark green carton of Turkish Ovals in the tobacconist's store started calling me, saying, "You're forgetting something." I got a carton, and I've been smoking ever since. I don’t try to quit anymore. I love it. I don’t recommend it for anybody, but I love it. Now I smoke American Spirit yellow.

What’s your drink of choice?

Vodka tonic only, even at a wedding. I say, "I will drink with you, but I'm not going to be bullied or peer pressured. I only drink vodka tonic."

Do you have actors you’ve looked up to?

I have a real affection for smart people who do work with a real commitment. When I was in acting school, Robert De Niro’s particular focus and concentration appealed to me a lot. I revered him and still do. He became a friend, a mentor, and a big brother.

Are you a superstitious person?

I think I’ve lived long enough to assume that something like karma exists. I have a little protocol that I go through: I have an anthropomorphic relationship with planes, and I make promises, so the plane will make me promises. And then I remember that [former Egyptian president] Anwar Sadat said, “I’m going to die, but not one second before God says so.” And then I remember that I’m in the air already. There’s nothing to do.

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Codirector: Frank Lebon. Director of photography: André Chemetoff. Hair by Jawara for L’Oréal Professional at Art Partner; makeup by Lauren Parsons for Sisley Paris at Art Partner; manicure by Jolene Brodeur for Dazzle Dry at the Wall Group. Set design by David White at Streeters.