The Biz, Buzz and Travails of Hollywood

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I first discovered Sean Penn in the 1983 film Bad Boys (over a decade before the 1995 Will Smith and Martin Lawrence action vehicle of the same name and many moons before Puffy, Diddy, or whatever he’s calling himself these days even dreamed of having a record label. And just for the record, Sean Justin Penn IS the ORIGINAL Bad Boy. Hands down.) By this time Penn had already made his motion picture debut as the thinking man’s schoolboy cadet with a conscience in 1981’s Taps alongside Tom Cruise. And his dazzling followup was an ascension to instant movie icondom as surfer slacker Jeff Spicoli in the 1982 cult classic ensemble, Fast Times At Ridgemont High. But it was his powder keg performance as an incarcerated teen seeking revenge in Boys that really grabbed, shook and awakened me to what was happening in the movies at the time. Penn’s portrayal was pure, honest, raw and ragingly vulnerable. I had never seen a young actor explode that way on the screen before  (or since) and while I was only 12 years old, I was old enough to know that in that movie Sean Penn completely blew my mind.

This was the dawn of a new age-the eighties; and MTV was about to pilot a televised music video revolution where style, looks and cool would prevail over substance. And in turn Hollywood spawned a new kind of young actor and brood that would later be christened the brat pack generation; the young, 20- something, cute boy toys and girls who not only looked the part, but had the acting chops necessary to carry and open a film. The list included Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald.  But actually, Sean Penn wasn’t ever really a part of that pack. Because instead of starring in a lot of cute and now considered guilty pleasure nostalgic fare that his contemporaries opted for, Penn was honing his acting chops on NYC theater stages. He decided early on to carve out his own niche cinematically, choosing the path of actor over that of the more alluring and well-traveled road of movie star.

Throughout his career Penn has always and continues to deliver real, truthful performances that continually and ritualistically blaze across the big screen. Very early on and before the term indie became a household word the Santa Monica-born actor chose films rooted in these small story cinematic traditions (Racing With The Moon, Falcon and The Snowman, At Close Range) over The Big 80 flicks with juggernaut box office receipts and unforgettable catchphrases. Penn even managed to make shakier and more fragile film projects better, by simply gracing us with his presence (Crackers, Shanghai Surprise, We’re No Angels). And by the time the 1990s and 2000s rolled in and the term indie became a catchphrase itself, Penn got to flex his acting muscles with big roles in little films that were truly unforgettable (State of Grace, She’s so Lovely, Hurlyburly, Sweet and Lowdown, 21 Grams, The Assassination of Richard Nixon). And he got a chance to disappear completely into fascinating characters that injected flesh, blood and passion into bigger Hollywood-studio type sagas (Carlito’s Way, Dead Man Walking, I Am Sam, Mystic River-for which after three Oscar nominations, Penn won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Actor).

Next up in Pt. II: Penn directs and later reconnects with acting to portray Harvey Milk in Milk

This story is filed under: Entertainment, Tracking Shot