Sean Penn recently made headlines after winning Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards but choosing not to attend the ceremony. His absence drew attention, especially since it wasn’t the first time the actor skipped the event.
Penn received the award for his role as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw in the film One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. During the ceremony, last year’s winner Kieran Culkin accepted the Oscar on Penn’s behalf and joked about the actor not being present.
In addition to missing the Oscars, Penn also skipped the BAFTA Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier in the season, despite receiving honors at those events as well.
Reports from sources cited by The New York Times suggested Penn may have planned a trip to Ukraine around the same time, though it was not confirmed whether he actually traveled there.
Avoiding the Oscars is not unusual for the actor. He also missed previous ceremonies when nominated for films such as Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown, and I Am Sam.
Penn has openly criticized the awards in the past, suggesting that ceremonies like the Oscars function more as television events than true measures of artistic achievement.
Despite his complicated relationship with the ceremony, Penn has had major success at the Oscars. He previously won Best Actor for his performances in Mystic River and Milk.
With his latest win, Penn joins a small group of performers with three acting Oscars, including Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, and Daniel Day-Lewis, while Katharine Hepburn still holds the record with four acting awards.