How Bruce Springsteen inspired Sean Penn’s directorial debut
Read More
Credit: Alamy
When Sean Penn punched an extra on the set of ‘Colors’
Sean Penn built a reputation on his fiery temper during the 1980s, and he was forever getting headlines for all the wrong reasons. He constantly found himself having problems with authorities and even went to prison for attacking an extra on the set of Colors.
When the actor arrived on the Colors set, it had been a colourful couple of years for Penn, and his high-profile relationship with Madonna put a microscope on his problematic behaviour. His first issue came in 1985 when the actor physically attacked two journalists trying to photograph the couple in Nashville. This incident began a dangerous pattern that led to Penn being sentenced to prison two years later.
Penn was already on probation when he was shooting Colors following a charge of misdemeanour battery for assaulting songwriter David Wolinski at Helena’s nightclub in Los Angeles. He was under strict conditions not to break his probation, but all hell broke loose while he was on set of the film, and his reputation was further shattered.
During a break in filming, Penn attacked extra Jeffrey Klein, who photographed him and Robert Duvall. The court found that Penn spat and swore at Klein, who responded by spitting back at the actor, which prompted him to repeatedly punch the extra with a closed fist until members of the cast and crew successfully dragged him away. Klein was left cut and bruised by the incident.
Penn was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail for this assault and reckless driving two months later, although he only served 33 days. After the sentencing, his attorney, Howard L. Weitzman, said: “He feels this is an unfortunate experience. He has to learn that people are going to attempt to goad him into situations where he may react inappropriately. He needs to and does understand that incidents like this are inescapable and he can control and will control them.”
During his time in prison, an inmate of Penn’s was the notorious serial killer, Richard Ramirez, who tried to befriend the actor. However, Penn wasn’t interested at all and wrote to Ramirez, telling him,” ‘You know, Richard, it’s impossible to be incarcerated and not feel a certain kinship with your fellow inmates. Well, Richard, I’ve done the impossible, I feel absolutely no kinship with you.'”
Following his stint in County Jail, Penn successfully cleaned up his reputation and stayed out of trouble for decades until an incident with a photographer in 2009. His behaviour made him a tabloid villain everyone hated, and his action on the set of Colors gave his critics plentiful ammunition to build this cartoonish image of the actor.
