Sean Penn Reacts To Political Violence Around Charlie Kirk Shooting: "Not Surprised At All"

 With the political violence in his new movie One Battle After Another, Sean Penn is aware of the film’s growing cultural relevance.

The 2x Oscar winner recently reacted to the shooting of Charlie Kirk while discussing his Paul Thomas Anderson movie about a group of ex-revolutionaries, which premieres Friday in theaters.

“I was not surprised at all,” he told Vanity Fair. “Like a lot of people, I’ve been worrying that this kind of horror was moving towards coming into fashion.”

Penn added, “It’s disturbing enough that I would say I’m still processing it. And what its implications are.”

Kirk, a conservative influencer and the co-founder of Turning Point USA, died at age 31 on Wednesday, Sept. 10 after he was shot in the neck from a nearby building during an outdoor speech at Utah Valley University.

That week, 22-year old Utah local Tyler Robinson was arrested for the shooting. As unanswered questions about his motives remain, a partisan divide has grown in the country, most recently resulting in the brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! amid attacks on free speech around Kirk’s death.

In One Battle After Another, Penn plays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, who goes head-to-head with former radical Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) when he kidnaps the washed-up revolutionary’s daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). The film also stars Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Alana Haim and more.