Actor and director Sean Penn knows something about what it means to be a movie star, and he thinks Hollywood is done making them. During a recent interview on the The Louis Theroux Podcast, Penn offered his opinion on an array of different celebrities.
“I think the movie star manufacturer ran out around Jennifer Lawrence time or something,” Penn said. “She’s probably the last movie star.”
Penn also had plenty of praise for Tom Cruise, an undisputed movie star who is about to launch Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. “Certain kind of movies people appreciate more than others… but this is a very good actor who is also an incredibly extraordinary craftsman,” Penn said about Cruise. “Those movies don’t get made on those level without somebody extraordinary behind them. He’s the common link behind many of them. It’s no accident. He does his own stunts. He’s probably the best stuntman in movie world. He’s the most experienced guy.”
Penn did say that he admired some performances he’d seen from younger actors, though. “I see some performances from some young actors where I feel like I should quit and become an accountant because they are so good,” he explained. When asked about Timothee Chalamet in particular, though, Penn said that he hadn’t “seen his movies yet.”
The question of Hollywood still makes movie stars is definitely up for debate, but many might suggest that Chalamet is proof that it’s still possible to become famous via a successful film career. Both Lawrence and Chalamet do some combination of major franchise work and smaller, more personal projects, which might be the formula for success.