“I was at the gas station in Brentwood the other day and now I’m thinking about taking up arms against Russia?” – Sean Penn on his support for Ukraine

Sean Penn announced that he was considering joining the Ukrainian Armed Forces to fight against Russia.

In a recent interview, the 61-year-old actor, who fled Ukraine in February while filming a VICE documentary about Russia’s invasion of the country, spoke about returning to the war zone.

“My intention is to return to Ukraine. But I’m not an idiot, I’m not sure what I have to offer,” Penn told Hollywood Authentic.

Speaking about his time in the country earlier this year, he added: “The only possible reason for my extended stay in Ukraine last time would have been because I was holding a gun.”

“So where I am in life, that’s short, but if you’ve been to Ukraine [fighting] must go through your mind. And you think what century is that?” Penn continued.

“I was at the gas station in Brentwood the other day, and now I’m thinking about taking up arms against Russia? What the hell is going on?” he asked.

Penn was a prominent voice speaking out against Russia, and had previously urged the US to “invest everything” to support the country and its people or lose sight of “what America hoped to be.”

Oscar winner Sean Penn has spoken about his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and how he hopes to continue supporting the war effort.

He spoke about the communications he had with Mr. Zelensky and the work he has done on a documentary about Ukraine.

Penn said: “I originally met him on Zoom before the threat of more than the border war became real.

“That was at the beginning of the pandemic in the US. We first started by discussing a possible documentary about his country that didn’t particularly focus on the war.

“And since then there have been a lot of exchanges between us. Then I went and met him face to face the day before the invasion. And I was with him on the first day of the invasion.”

The actor’s nonprofit CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), which he founded in 2010, is currently supporting Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

“I’m very involved with CORE on the reception side of refugees in Poland,” said Penn. “I’m shooting more for the documentary, but I’ll be making a last-minute assessment of what that’s going to be worth.”

He concluded: “In the long term, we have no tangible evidence that documentaries are really making a difference. We just don’t. All we know is that they can give hope.”