That's strange, because Sean Penn has a reputation for beingall wrong. No one knows this better than Wright, who never wantedto fall in love with Hollywood's baddest bad boy. Then their eyesmet across a crowded room.
Actually, the candle-lit restaurant at New York's MayflowerHotel wasn't so crowded at 2 a.m. It was 1987; in a darkened corner,Wright, who then was starring on the soap "Santa Barbara," was diningwith her sudsy co-star and new husband, Dane Witherspoon.In walked Penn. Fate intervened and sent Witherspoon to thebathroom. And then Wright felt something odd. Silently shewondered: Was it a laser beam? Or just Sean Penn, staring?She says: "We stared at each other like, `Yes, you're the one.See you in about five years.' " Cut to 1992 on a cold fall evening.The phone rings. "It was Sean asking me out," sighs Wright. "Hementioned that night at the Mayflower. He remembered what I waswearing, the print of my sundress and the way my hair was falling onmy shoulders."Sean Penn, a softie?Firing up the first of many cigarettes, Penn, 36, says he wantsto wipe the slate clean. The star of "She's So Lovely," a romance inwhich he plays opposite Wright, says he's misunderstood.These days, Penn doesn't pop photographers. He pops popcorn fortheir kids, daughter Dylan, 5, and son Hopper, 3."People are always waiting for an explosion from me," Pennmuses. Not that an explosion is totally out of the question. "I'vegot buttons. People push my buttons and . . . well, you neverknow."Yes, this is the same Penn who has boxed with paparazzi andeven spent 30 days behind bars after whacking an extra in 1987."Frankly, now I get a kick out of my image," says Penn. "Peoplethink I'm bad, but Robin and I know that I'm the guy sitting aroundrenting The Little Princess with the kids and getting a littlestuffed up at the ending."This fall is a virtual Sean Penn film festival. First up is"She's So Lovely" (opening Friday in Chicago), a romance thatgarnered Penn a best actor award at Cannes. Based on a script by thelate John Cassavetes and directed by his son Nick, Penn plays Eddieto Wright's Maureen. After 10 years in a mental hospital, he returnsto claim the woman he loves. But she's with a newer, nicer guy wholooks a lot like John Travolta.Penn also stars as the potential tormentor of Michael Douglas inthe thriller "The Game," directed by David Fincher ("Seven"), andthen there is Oliver Stone's "U Turn," which satirizes violence.That's a lot for a guy who says he can't stand acting. "I havea test if I'm going to act," Penn says, smiling. "I go outside andstick my finger in the pool. If my hand comes out cold, I figure Igotta heat the water. So I better get an acting job. I need thebucks." His wife shares a similar take-it-or-leave-it attitude aboutthe business.After playing "Forrest Gump's" Jenny, Wright says, "I didn'tmove onto Hollywood's A list because I wasn't going to run around inSpandex and do a Batman film. Hollywood is only looking for peopleto carry movies. It's all about how much money you can drag in."I care about the acting, but I'm certainly not sitting athome biting my fingernails saying, `Where is the next job?' In away, this is so odd because I'm angst-ridden everywhere else in mylife. Acting just doesn't provoke that in me. I could never actagain and it would be fine. The flip side is that I love acting. Sogo figure it out."Penn says he is happier holed up in his office "writing somenew movie to direct. Then again sometimes I'm just so tired fromchasing the kids around and I look at that blank page and say, `Do Ireally want to fight this thing again?' "Penn has an identical motto for those who can't understand hisrelationship with Wright. His ex-wife Madonna has been the mostvicious of all. She fumed to a woman's magazine who inquired abouther own marriage plans, "Doesn't anybody say a damn word about myex-husband having two children with Robin Wright and not living withher for five years and having any number of girlfriends in theinterim?"Madonna called Penn's marriage to Wright "some sort ofknee-jerk reaction to me. It was Sean trying to be dramatic."A better word would be diplomatic. Concerning his ex, Penndoesn't express many opinions. Yes, he had read what she said. No,he didn't send her a baby present when Lourdes was born. Penn musesthat where Madonna is concerned, he is persona non grata. So wouldhe direct her in one of his movies? "Let's just say that wouldrequire a lot of thought."Getting together with Wright, 31, required some pause, too.After the gooey gazes at the Mayflower, Wright and Penn met upprofessionally in the 1990 film "State of Grace." When theyeventually started seeing each other, newspapers delighted inreporting that it was a beauty and the beast tale.Wright says she has her own beastly side. "I'm indecisive,manic, crazy," she says. "I'm 18 different personalities. I'm notso stoic. I can get very angry. You don't want to push me."How quiet is Penn? He can calmly discuss the awful day lastMay when Wright was carjacked in their driveway. Both children werein the back seat when two men jumped in the front seat of thefamily's Toyota Land Cruiser.Wright insisted on removing the children. Penn marvels, "Shewas amazing. She was so calm and clear about what happened."Penn is keeping his personal rage under wraps. It also didn'tupset him when the tabloids went ballistic last April trying tofigure out what emergency kept Penn and Wright from attending theOscar ceremonies, where he was nominated for best actor.Now the truth: an emergency gallstone operation. "Sean didn'tgive a damn about an award. He wouldn't leave my side," says Wright.Things weren't always so lovely. "I think we went through ourhell," she says. "Sean is an enigma. When we first met I gave him atitle. He probably doesn't like this, but I tell him he was a`loving nightmare.' " Asked to elaborate, she'll say only, "He'sunlike anybody. It's what makes him special."But there were tough times. Penn says the worst was in 1993,when he watched his Malibu home burn to the ground. At the time, heand Wright had broken up and she had custody of the kids. As hestood in the burning rubble, something snapped. "I ran inside andsaved a few pictures of my kids and the dog. I realized the familywas the only important thing," he says. So Penn dropped gal palsJewel and Elle MacPherson and asked Wright for forgiveness.She let him hang for a little while, and Penn moved into atrailer next to the ashes of his house to wait her out. "I wouldhave been heartbroken if she would have said no," he admits. OnApril 27, 1996, they got married under one condition. "I made himsell the trailer. There was no way I was living there," says WrightPenn."Our wedding day was such a joyous thing," she adds. "Thefeeling was, `Oh, good, now the fun in our life begins. We get tofeel good.' It just felt so right. The actual wedding was aspur-of-the-moment decision, but that somehow fits our crazyrelationship."He interjects, "We needed to dive in. Something was callingus."Shyly, Wright Penn, her new name, produces a very understatedthin band with a ring of diamonds lining the center.The actual wedding was "pretty traditional," he says, addingthat his views of marriage this time are simple. "I feel married.It ain't always easy, but it's worth it."The script for "She's So Lovely," which arrived before theirceremony, seemed like a wedding gift. Wright and Penn got excited.She says, "It was funny because they wanted us to play twocrazy-in-love people, which is what we are."This time working together is different. Wright Pennmaintains, "We worked together when we first met. But now we haveknown each other for eight years and we have two kids. We've had therocky relationship."At the Penn pad outside of Los Angeles, it's the kids thatcount. As for their child-rearing philosophies, the Penns aretotally in sync. "We talk to our kids about the truth being the mostimportant thing," says Wright."With kids, you can't be dishonest at all," Penn says. "Youdon't want to be putting that vibe out to the universe. I tell mykids that lying is transparent."Mixing fame and family is rough. Wright brings up a recentfamily field trip to Disneyland."We took our daughter for the first time, and she couldn'texperience it because (Penn) was being pulled aside for a millionautographs. So we had to have an escort, which I also hate."And then they have their problems with the scandal sheets."The funniest thing happened when a friend called up one day andsaid, `Can you believe it? I just read in the tabs that you guys gotmarried.' And for once, it was true!" says Wright Penn.There are also rumors that pal Marlon Brando stripped down tohis skivvies at their wedding and sang a song. "I can't confirm,"says Wright Penn, laughing. "Let's just say he gave us a uniquegift."Penn gifted his wife with an appearance by singer Peter Gabrielat their wedding. He sang their song, "In Your Eyes," which thePenns first danced to in the film "State of Grace." She sighs andsays, "He really is so romantic. Whenever we hear that song, wedance around our kitchen."Penn can do no wrong in Wright's eyes.Distributed by Big Picture News Inc.
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