Dubbel Oscar winner Sean Penn says he was “cheated” by Vladimir Putin when they met, writes The Hill.
– I felt that there was something genuine there, says Penn.
But the actor has changed its idea of that after the “eerie” Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sean Penn.
Foto: INSTAR / STELLA PICTURES / STELLA PICTURES / INSTAR IMAGES INSTAR IMAGES
Vladimir Putin.
Photo: Mikhail Metzel / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool / Epa Sputnik Pool
Actor Sean Penn has won two Oscars for best male lead role for his efforts in the films “Mystic River” (2003) and “Milk” (2008). Penn reflected on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited the talk show program “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” This week.
Penn met Putin during Moscow’s international film festival in 2001.
– It was about two or three weeks after the then President Bush said, “I looked him in the eye and felt that I trusted him”. And I have to say that I was also deceived, says Penn.
“Felt that there was something genuine there”
He “felt that there was something genuine there” at the meeting with Putin, but after Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, the actor’s view of the Russian leader has changed drastically.
– Now we know that he is willing to kidnap 30,000 children and murder many people, says Penn.
PENN made a documentary about the Ukraine War in 2023 and has repeatedly criticized Russia for the invasion.
“This awful situation that Russia has started is not something we should forget,” Penn said in February.
