Sean Penn Taking a Break, Leaves 'Three Stooges'

Whenever I bring up to people that Sean Penn retired from acting back in 1993, they usually give me a blank stare. You see, Penn has received five Oscar nominations for his acting since his retirement, the most by any actor in that span, and he has two wins. Pretty impressive for a guy who just wanted to focus on directing. Well now Penn is walking away again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Penn has backed out of two films, Cartel and The Three Stooges, so he can focus on personal issues. If you follow the gossip pages at all, you probably know that Penn and his wife, Robin Wright-Penn, have had a bumpy road, and in May, the actor dismissed his second round of divorce proceedings. How much time will he take to focus on his family? Representatives indicate that it might be a year, and that completely wipes him out of the two films in question. Cartel will be fine. It's not a heavy duty character drama like Milk. Plus, the script isn't even completed. The Three Stooges, on the other hand, is a major derailment. Penn was set to play Larry Fine (or at least, some contemporarized version of that Stooge) opposite Jim Carrey's Curly and Benicio Del Toro's Moe. The Farrelly Brothers were set to begin production in two months, aiming for a 2010 release. It's not clear yet whether the role will be immediately re-cast or if the production will be delayed. The problem with that, of course, is potential scheduling conflicts for the other stars. Penn as Larry Fine, I believe, was the biggest casting coup of the year. Here's a guy just coming off his second Oscar and he's going to play a Stooge. You won't find another actor of his gravity willing to play the part, I wouldn't think, almost certainly not with so little notice.

Comments

[anybody]

I'd throw benicio's cast mate from usual suspects in there instead, another oscar winner to keep the profile high, mr kevin spacey. He is actually quite funny and does great impersonations.

[faulty logic]

Good news, I just couldn't wrap my head around Sean Penn as a Stooge.
I could totally buy Kevin Spacey though.

[Sean]

Good call Kevin Spacey would be fantastic , great actor and a very funny man if he's feeling good that day..

Actually Sean Penn as a Stooge would work to me, he could make it work, I dont think it would be horrible but a stretch indeed...

Ive always been a bit critical of Sean Penn, I mean the guy has 2 best actors wins and others who are greatly more deserving should have 2 as well but for some idiotic reason dont....

Denzel Washington (only 1)
Meryl streep (yes she's a woman but still only has 1 best actress)
Al Pacino (only 1)
Robert De Niro (only 1)
Jack Lemmon (only 1)
Paul Newman (only 1)
Laurence Olivier (only 1 )

I mean come on... Sean Penn has 2, in the likes of Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Daniel Day Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Spencer Tracy, ..... thats only the guys...

But you get the point, I hope...
Not to say he didn't deserve it, but others do much more, and havent...

[MRPigg]

Sometimes the Oscars(TM!) are all about timing. There were three other fantastic performances last year in the category for which Penn took home the statue. And none of those four would have stood any chance against Daniel Day Lewis the previous year. What also needs to be pointed out is that at least three of the performers on the above "unfairly only have 1 Oscar" list did not even win for their best performances (Washington, Pacino and Newman). So consider it lucky that history has recognized them at all.