Sean Penn was absent from Hollywood’s biggest night and still walked away with a trophy…just not what you’d expect.
The 65-year-old actor won the Best Supporting Actor award for “One Battle After Another” at Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, but chose instead to fly to war-torn Ukraine.
As big stars gathered at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, Penn met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev on Monday, doubling down on his long-standing support for the country amid its ongoing war with Russia.
But Ukraine had no intention of letting the Oscar winner return to the United States empty-handed.
In a memorable moment captured in a video posted to X, Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovsky presented Penn with a unique “Iron Oscar.” This is a handmade statuette forged from metal taken from a rail car destroyed by a Russian missile.
“You’re missing out on the Oscars,” Perzovsky told him. “And you gave the last one to the president, so we made this one.
“You said the metal survived. So we put a word here that’s very special to us. It’s not gold, but it’s very real and heartfelt. It’s important to us.”
Mr. Penn, overcome with emotion, hugged Perzovsky and simply replied, “Thank you for everything, these are treasures.”
The provisional award has a powerful inscription on the back that reads:
“Once this steel carried away millions of people from war. Then came the Russian missiles. We did not melt it down and make it into a weapon. We forged it with gratitude. Gratitude for you. Gratitude for your talent. Gratitude for the courage to stand with Ukraine.”
Penn’s absence didn’t go unnoticed in Hollywood either.
Actor Kieran Culkin, who announced the category, took a joking jab: “Sean Penn is either unable or unwilling to be here tonight so I’ll accept the award in his place.”
Sources told The New York Times that Mr. Penn had been planning a visit to Ukraine for several days and was aiming to win his third Oscar, but chose to visit rather than attend the ceremony.
Penn’s ties to Ukraine run deep.
He has visited Russia many times since the 2022 invasion, and even filmed a documentary about President Zelenskiy’s transformation from comedian to wartime leader. The film, which premiered in 2023, helped cement what both men say is a close friendship.
In 2022, Penn handed one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelenskiy and told him to return it only after Ukraine won the war.
The actor’s latest Oscar win puts him in the rare ranks of three-time Academy Award-winning acting stalwarts, along with Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman.
Penn previously won Best Actor for “Mystic River” in 2004 and “Milk” in 2009.
Still, his absence from the Oscars wasn’t a total shock, as he also missed the acting awards in Los Angeles earlier this month and the BAFTAs in London in February.
Penn’s no-show was another reminder that he plays by his own rules when it comes to awards season.
