As one of Hollywood's critically acclaimed stars, Sean Penn's revelation of the "great magic moment in his life regarding cinema" warrants attention from fans.
In his speech, the actor, the guest of honour at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, describes that moment as when he saw his friend Jack Nicholson's incredibly successful movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
“I heard my name a lot tonight,” he shares as he seems to be emotional. “But I’ve been very comfortable with it in the sense that knowing Cuckoo’s Nest was going to play, there was no question I was going to be able to find great humility under the circumstances."
"One of the great, magic moments in my life in cinema was the first time I saw Jack Nicholson in Miloš Forman’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’,” the 65-year-old continues.
The Oscar winner calls himself "privileged" as he shares that he not only once but twice worked with Jack. “I was very privileged in so much as being able to have worked with Jack twice.”
He continues, "With both ‘The Pledge’ and ‘Crossing Guard,’ he was an angel on my shoulder and I still can’t quite get over, I still can’t quite imagine that McMurphy [Nicholson’s character in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”] has worked with me."
Sean, who is speaking in front of a crowd of 5,000, further opens up about the movie, “There was a little cinema out by the beach in Los Angeles where I would go."
"At the time, in the late ‘70s, it seemed that each film that came out was sort of an event. But still, today, I wouldn’t think twice about sharing this movie with a 16 or 17 year-old because it would hold up – even with those that get bored very quickly,” the star jokes.
Meanwhile, the Lumière Film Festival, where Sean made an emotional speech, will end on Oct. 19.