Sean Penn sat down with CNN’s Jim Acosta this weekend to speak about his documentary “Superpower,” which was shot while the actor was embedded with Ukraine’s military during its ongoing war against Russia. Acosta asked Penn about Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who also believes the U.S. should lessen its support of Ukraine.
In response, Penn commented, “I don’t find him [Ramaswamy] very interesting because he’s just like a high school student who’s impressive because he got an ‘A’ in something he’ll never apply in life.”
Penn also added that at this point in the war, “I would say that, whichever party, and I think that in the blood of these parties, the actual belief, when paying attention to it, either party now can have a very big political win. Because I think there’s a lot of likemindedness when the focus and context of what this war means to the United States is presented.”
The actor also expressed his worry that the American public is “a little bit tired” of hearing about the war. He said that many people might feel that if Ukraine is “winning another battle, we don’t have to worry about [the war] because they’re winning.”
Acosta asked Penn if he’s worried about what might happen to Ukraine if Donald Trump is reelected. The actor’s worry actually goes far beyond one man, he added. As he put it, “I worry about what happens to Ukraine if the American people don’t learn to talk to each other.”
“Superpower” is co-directed by Penn and Aaron Kaufman. It covers the time period that began in the months before Russia announced its invasion of Ukraine. The movie was originally planned to be a documentary about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the crew was filming when the Russian offensive began and quickly pivoted to covering the war itself.
Penn previously explained, “We set out to tell a lighthearted tale of this comedic actor who had been elected President of Ukraine and instead became witness to a historic leader and his country’s war for freedom.”
Penn added, “When you step into a country of such incredible unity, you realize what we [in the United States] have all been missing.”
Watch the interview with Penn in the video above.
