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Julia Roberts and Sean Penn Reveal Hollywood's Cancel Culture Battle

Hollywood icons Julia Roberts and Sean Penn sat down for a candid conversation about their upcoming projects. Roberts is starring in Luca Guadagnino's 'After the Hunt', while Penn leads in a new Paul Thomas Anderson film. They reflected on their decades-long friendship, which began in New York during the '80s. Both actors shared thoughtful perspectives on modern culture, with Roberts emphasizing the lost art of listening and Penn defending the value of shame.

Key Points: Julia Roberts Sean Penn Discuss Cancel Culture and New Films

  • Julia Roberts stars as a professor confronting bias in Luca Guadagnino's 'After the Hunt'
  • Sean Penn plays a vengeful colonel in Paul Thomas Anderson's new film
  • Roberts values collaborative listening over intense, positional arguments
  • Penn argues that shame can be a valuable tool for personal humility
2 min read

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn Bond speak up on their bond, cancel culture'

Hollywood stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn discuss their new films, their long friendship, and share candid thoughts on cancel culture and modern discourse.

"I think shame is underrated these days. It's got a bad name this decade. - Sean Penn"

Los Angeles, Dec 6

Hollywood stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are delivering power-packed performances as complicated, volatile characters amid volatile political environments.

In Luca Guadagnino's 'After the Hunt', Julia Roberts plays Alma Imhoff, a Yale professor of philosophy who is forced to confront her own flaws and biases when a student accuses her colleague of assault, reports 'Variety'.

And in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another', Sean Penn's Col. Steven J. Lockjaw plunges the lives of a father and daughter into chaos as he undertakes a mission of revenge against political dissidents.

As per 'Variety', the actors, who are longtime friends and neighbors, spoke about their work and careers before heading to dinner.

When Julia asked, "How many years do you think we've known each other? I think I know the answer", her co-actor said, "I'm thinking back to New York, the Mayflower Hotel during the shooting of 'The Pope of Greenwich Village'".

During the conversation, the actress spoke about Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, who are her co-stars in 'After the Hunt'.

She said, "Luca and Andrew (Garfield), Ayo (Edebiri) and Chloe (Sevigny) came to our house and sat for days and days at our kitchen table, and we had all these conversations. Really bright people do not jockey for their position. They share their ideas and their feelings and then they listen intently. It's the listening that I feel we've gotten the farthest from in culture, because conversations get so intense so quickly, and you're just waiting for that break so that you can say, 'OK, but this is why I'm right. This is why what I believe is better'. It was so nice to have the time and to be with truly bright people, and hearing what everybody had to say. We didn't necessarily tell all our characters' secrets. But it was just a great playground of thought".

Sean Penn opined that shame is underrated these days, as he said, "'Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable', I just wanted to go, 'Thank God somebody's saying this'".

"We're in this time of a lot of talk therapy, a lot of what I'd call the trauma industry. I think shame is underrated these days. It's got a bad name this decade. Why shouldn't people be ashamed of things? Hold on to it for a while and reenter with some more humility", he added.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Sean Penn talking about shame being underrated is interesting. In our society, there is definitely a place for 'lajja' (shame) as a moral compass. But it shouldn't be used to suppress people either. Balance is key.
A
Aditya G
Hollywood stars lecturing on culture... bit rich. They live in a bubble of extreme privilege. Talk about listening and shame while making millions for playing characters. Real change happens on the ground, not in interviews.
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Sarah B
The description of their film projects sounds intense! "After the Hunt" dealing with a campus assault accusation is a very relevant topic globally, including for our universities here. Will be interesting to see the Indian audience's reaction.
K
Karthik V
"Really bright people do not jockey for their position." This line hit home. In our offices and even families, we see so much positioning and one-upmanship. True intelligence is collaborative. Hope their movies release soon here!
M
Meera T
Their friendship of so many years is lovely to read about. In our fast-paced lives, we often forget to nurture old bonds. Also, a kitchen table conversation for days with co-stars? That's the kind of preparation we need in Bollywood too, not just rushed readings.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

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