Sean Penn and Kraków authorities pledge support for Ukrainian refugees – Photo credit: Omar Marques/Getty Images
Sean Penn admitted he can’t shake the idea of returning to Ukraine and literally joining the fight against Russia in a new interview with Hollywood Authentic.
The actor/filmmaker happened to be in Ukraine working on a documentary when Russia first invaded. While he’s been back in the United States since March, Penn said he plans to return to Ukraine at some point, although he doesn’t know when due to the ongoing war and his own fears: “I’m not an idiot,” he said, “I do not sure what to offer.”
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Penn continued: “The only possible reason for my prolonged stay in Ukraine last time would have been that I was holding a rifle, probably without body armor, because as a foreigner you would want to give that body armor to one of those civilian combatants, who don’t have it, or to a fighter with more skill than me, or to a younger man or woman who could fight longer, or whatever.”
He added, “[I]If you have been to Ukraine [fighting] must go through your mind. And you think what century is this? Because I was at the gas station in Brentwood the other day and now I’m considering taking up arms against Russia? What the hell is going on?
Meanwhile, Penn said he will try to keep busy by supporting his non-profit organization CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), which supports Ukrainian refugees in Poland and may soon move to Ukraine to provide resources on the ground. Though Penn isn’t involved in running the group — that’s headed by CEO and co-founder Ann Lee — he said his future hands-on involvement could just “boost morale because people like to know the founder recognizes what they’re doing . And some of them might be movie buffs or whatever.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Penn spoke about the documentary he was working on before the Russian invasion and his admiration for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (In fact, Penn is such an admirer that he recently threatened to “smell” his Oscar publicly if Zelensky wasn’t invited to speak at the 2022 Academy Awards. That didn’t happen, though Zelensky did perform at the Grammys a week later via pre-recorded video message.)
Penn said he had been with Zelensky the day before the invasion, and once it began he was struck by how quickly Zelensky realized he knew “he had to rise to the ultimate level of human courage and leadership.” “. He added, “[Ukrainians] are together like never before, and as I said, that’s Zelensky’s historical legacy, because he’s the man who did it. You will never be able to take away from him that he united Ukrainians to fight for their country.”
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