Besides acting, two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn is a master of all traits, including writing and directing. His acting career has brought him the most acclaim, but he came to most controversies after whacking his co-star John Leguizamo in 2011.
Yes right! Actor John Leguizamo got a real slap from his co-star Sean Penn while filming a confrontation scene in Casualties of War, directed by Brian De Palma. Leguizamo said Penn is a method actor, and he “slapped him for real.”
Looks like Penn created a huge fuss on De Palma’s movie set – but this is not the last time he ever did something to the director. He frustrated De Palma again in 1993, while they were filming Carlito’s Way.
Sean Penn Frustrated Director Brian De Palma on The Sets of Carlito’s Way
There was a time when Sean Penn frustrated the Mission: Impossible director. It was when he was working with the director on the sets of Carlito Way – a movie about a man released from prison after years who plans to leave his criminal life behind. But soon, he gets pulled back into the underworld of New York City.
Penn’s commitment to perfecting a specific scene put director Brian De Palma’s patience to the test in the movie. In an interview with Esquire, De Palma discussed the movie scene.
De Palma remembered that during the filming of Carlito’s Way, there’s a scene where Sean Penn‘s character is (heavily) influenced by cocaine, and he’s trying to get Pacino to go on the boat trip with him. Due to the sun’s positioning, the director chose to film Penn’s part over Pacino’s back for the beginning. He went on saying:
“I shot ten, fifteen takes, and I thought it looked pretty good. But Sean said, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ I said ‘What?!’ He said, ‘We don’t have it.’ I said, ‘I think we do.’ He said, ‘I need a few more takes.’ He said, ‘Twenty.’ I said, ‘Twenty?? Ok…’ I shot ten more, I think, and then I said, ‘Sean, I have to shoot this two-shot, then I gotta go over and shoot Al. He’s been playing to you all morning.’ But Sean was never happy with the scene.”
Looks like Sean Penn wasn’t in the mood to film the scene.
The Day When Sean Penn Was Not Cooperating With Brian De Palma
Penn had a strong focus on his performance, even though it didn’t really make sense to the director’s vision. De Palma believed Penn was a talented actor and usually went along with him.
But the time was running out during the shoot, and the director had to shoot another sequence (as the sun was setting). But he noticed that Penn was not happy with that scene.
The director continued by saying:
“But he was not happy that day. I worked with Sean twice, and I think he’s done some of his best performances [for me]. But there was that one day where he was not happy with what I was doing.”
Watch Carlito’s Way on Netflix.
Source: IMDb
