Is the movie star dead? Sean Penn thinks so.

For Sean Penn, Hollywood isn’t producing the sort of movie stars that it did decades and decades ago. But is he out of touch? The post Is the movie star dead? Sean Penn thinks so. appeared first on JoBlo.

May 18, 2025 - 21:15

Is the movie star dead? Sean Penn thinks so.

What’s the first name that comes to mind when you think of a movie star? Do you go back to the Golden Age of Hollywood? Maybe a ‘70s icon? A blockbuster hero of the ‘80s and ‘90s? The point is, it might not be someone too recent…at least, if you’re Sean Penn, that is, who recently declared, “There’s no such thing as a movie star anymore.”

To me, Timothée Chalamet might be the quintessential movie star right now. But the A Complete Unknown star is hardly on Penn’s radar, saying he has yet to see a single film from him. Adding to this, Penn stated, “It’s like, people are hanging out in their sections of the library. We all used to be in the same library, and [found out] what was special to everybody. I have a romantic memory of that. It’s moved on since then. There won’t be…you’re not going to have a Warren Beatty, it’s not going to happen.”

OK, so Warren Beatty is tough to match, but Chalamet is also a reigning sex symbol (although with that ‘stasche, he’ll never be Beatty) and had the advantage of landing his first movie five years before Beatty did at 24 with Splendor in the Grass. But look at Chalamet or Austin Butler or Glen Powell and you’re looking at a bonafide movie star – granted, they’re not all ones you’re going to drop your weekend for to catch their new flick. (Oh, god, it isn’t Dwayne Johnson, is it?) On the female front, what about Emma Stone or Margot Robbie? For Penn, the concept of a movie star stopped with someone else entirely. “I think the movie star manufacturer ran out around Jennifer Lawrence’s time or something. She’s probably the last movie star, yeah.”

Sean Penn has said many jaded things before, but this does feel a little like the old man yelling at clouds. Really, that he even said he has never seen a Timothée Chalamet movie – even the three that have individually outgrossed Warren Beatty’s entire filmography) – shows he’s out of touch on this one. Yes, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Tom Cruise – all guys who got their start in the ‘80s – still define the Hollywood movie star, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any newcomers who have a rightful spot in the conversation.

Who do you think stands as an absolute movie star in 2025?

The post Is the movie star dead? Sean Penn thinks so. appeared first on JoBlo.