Sean Penn has regrets about how his marriage ended with Leila George.
Penn, 61, was married to the Australian actress, 30, from 2020-2021 but admits he is still “so in love with” her.
“I only see [her] on a day-to-day basis now, because I f***ed up the marriage. We were married technically for one year, but for five years, I was a very neglectful guy,” he told Hollywood Authentic magazine.
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Penn clarified he didn’t cheat but “allowed myself to think that my place in so many other things was so important, and that included my place in being totally depressed and driven to alcohol and Ambien at 11 o’clock in the morning, by watching the news, by watching the Trump era, by watching it and just despairing.”
The actor said that “beautiful, incredibly kind, imaginative, talented young women” don’t want to marry a man “quite senior to them in years” only to have that man drink and take Ambien at all hours of the day.
Penn has enjoyed spending time with George recently like walking their dogs but doesn’t “know what’s going to happen with us.”
“I know that this is my best friend in the world and definitely the most influential, inspiring person, outside of my own blood, that anybody could ask to have in their life,” he added.
Penn is also making changes in his own life.
“Now, when I wash the dishes, I don’t answer my phone. If I’m with my wife for a day, I don’t have my phone on, even though I’m juggling a lot of things. I don’t juggle them better by taking more calls. I can have my phone off and not watch the news for 12 hours now. And even when I’m stressed, I’m never stressed the way I used to be. Because we’ve all had our heart broken at some point.”
He concluded, “Although I still need vodka and an Ambien to get to sleep at night, I don’t use them to hide from the world now like I used to. I hope I’ve learned not to let everything overlap with me anymore. And that I really put priority in my family, in my wife, in my life, in ways that I can plan and control. That’s the theory, anyway.”
Penn has recently been in Ukraine filming the attacks from Russia for a documentary for Vice Studios. He is also spearheading humanitarian efforts to support the war-torn country.