Sean Penn did not attend the Oscars ceremony despite winning Best Supporting Actor for "One Battle After Another." He traveled to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, affirming his full support and plans to visit the front lines of the conflict.
Although it was the most significant night of an actor's life, renowned actor Sean Penn chose not to appear at the Oscars ceremony last Sunday, even after winning Best Supporting Actor for the film "One Battle After Another." Reports confirmed he was in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday (16 Mar) to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
AFP reporters saw the Oscar-winning actor from "Mystic River" stepping out of a black car in central Kyiv on Monday morning, wearing sunglasses and holding a cigarette pack. This trip further emphasized his role as a strong supporter of Ukraine, having visited the country multiple times before.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP, "We can confirm he is in Ukraine. This is a private trip according to his wishes, which he sees as necessary because he simply wants to support Ukraine."
Sean Penn met with President Zelensky, with whom he shares a close relationship after Penn co-directed a documentary about the Ukrainian leader in 2023. Zelensky posted a photo of their meeting on social media with a message saying:
"Sean, because of you... we know what true friends of Ukraine are. You have stood by us since the very first day of full-scale war, and you are still here today."
Additionally, Zelensky said in a February interview that he had watched Penn's latest film "One Battle After Another" and greatly admired it. Another source mentioned that Penn plans to soon visit the "battlefront" in eastern Ukraine.
Penn's support for Ukraine has been long-standing and serious. He premiered the documentary "Superpower" in 2023 at the Berlin Film Festival, portraying Zelensky's journey from comedian to wartime leader. In 2025, he also joined Bono, lead singer of U2, to campaign for Western solidarity with Ukraine on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet.
Penn said at last year's Lumiere Film Festival that his motivation for work—whether carpentry in a workshop, acting, directing, or NGO work—is fundamentally the same.
He said, "It's always an effort to add value to the world. Sometimes you might make mistakes that worsen situations, so you have to weigh risks and benefits in everything, always considering the circumstances, not yourself."