Sean Penn won the supporting actor Oscar on Sunday night for his performance as the ruthless, racist Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.” However, Penn was not present for the ceremony, which became the subject of jokes from Kiernan Culkin and Conan O’Brien.
“We have a ‘no show’ from Sean Penn,” O’Brien said. “Stay tuned.”
According to a report by The New York Times, Penn left for Europe, where his plan was to visit Ukraine. Penn has notably supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, even giving him one of his Oscar statuettes in 2022.
The win marks the third Academy Award for the 65-year-old actor and his first in the supporting category. He previously earned lead actor Oscars for “Mystic River” (2003) and “Milk” (2008), and had been nominated three other times in leading roles before this year.
Penn beat out fellow nominees Benicio Del Toro for “One Battle After Another,” Jacob Elordi for “Frankenstein,” Delroy Lindo for “Sinners,” and Stellan Skarsgård for “Sentimental Value.”
With this victory, Penn joins an elite group of three-time Oscar winners for acting, including Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Frances McDormand, and Walter Brennan. Katharine Hepburn remains the only four-time acting winner.
In Anderson’s sprawling political thriller, Penn delivers a volatile, darkly comic performance that made him the front-runner in the race, especially after a surprise victory at the BAFTA Awards and the Actor Awards, whose voting body overlaps heavily with the Motion Picture Academy.
Since Sean Penn did not attend the Oscars, presenter Kiernan Culkin accepted the award on his behalf.
“Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting it on his behalf,” Culkin said.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2026-03-15/sean-penn-oscars-2026-supporting-actor