Sean Penn Admits He’s Basically Retired From Acting: “I’m Not in Love With That Anymore”

Though he’s a two-time Oscar winner, Sean Penn has admitted he’s actually “not in love” with acting anymore. During a new interview — which is set to air on Sunday, March 25 — the 57-year-old candidly said he no longer enjoys working in Hollywood. “I think that this has been true for some time,” he began.

“It can be great when you’re working with good actors or good directors or good writing as an exercise, but do I have a belief that it has a lasting value? Maybe, I could make the argument intellectually. But I don’t have a visceral — I’m not in love with that anymore,” Sean told Tracy Smith on CBS Sunday Morning.

Despite starring in more than 40 films over the last few decades, Sean confessed his current passion is writing. In fact, the star just wrote his first novel titled Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. “You know, some people are going to get this book and some people are not going to get this book. Some people, I think, will really enjoy it, others will loathe it. And that really is what I’d like to say about me, you know?” he said of his latest project.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Interestingly, Sean isn’t the first actor to have recently spoken out about leaving the Hollywood spotlight. Earlier this week, Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank revealed she stepped away from acting for three years to care for her father after he underwent a lung transplant.

“For those of you who don’t know, my dad got a lung transplant. It’s the hardest surgery a person can undergo and I thank all the people that make themselves a donor, it saves lives. They had given him a short time to live if he didn’t get a lung transplant and thankfully he got one and he’s alive and thriving and well. I took three years off to be with him and help him through that life journey,” she said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Gwyneth Paltrow has additionally admitted that she plans on acting less in the future to instead focus on her lifestyle brand, Goop, and Cameron Diaz has reportedly left Hollywood to focus on starting a family with her husband, Benji Madden.