I’ve always been on the fence about Hopper Penn, the 22-year-old son of Sean Penn and Robin Wright. While I think their daughter Dylan turned out okay, Hopper often seems rather messy, and very much like his father at that age. Well, Hopper has a role in his dad’s terrible new film, The Last Face. TLF premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and the reviews were awful, across the board. But Hopper still has to promote it a little bit, which is how we got this amazing short interview in Interview Magazine. Hopper reveals that his dad wanted to name him “Steak.” Steak Penn. I thought for sure it would be Ham Penn.
Where Hopper lives: “L.A., unfortunately. I hate almost everything about it. I don’t fit well there, with the people. It’s very hard to find a genuine person in L.A. Also, I’m the big fan of rain and overcast weather. So it’s either Seattle or New York for me.”
Why he’s named Hopper: “It has to do with Dennis Hopper; my dad was friendly with him and idolized him. My dad wanted to name me Steak, the food, because he loves it so much. But my mom was never going to go for it. What they told me is that I hopped in her stomach, I didn’t kick, so they went with that.”
How he started acting: “Two and a half years ago, my dad was working on his movie called The Last Face, and I asked if I could PA for it. He said, “No, you’re going to act in it.” I said no, because I’m very shy; I didn’t know how to act. He said, “Well, you’ll get paid.” So I was like, “I’m onboard.” After the first day, I fell in love with it.
Whether he worries about measuring up to his parents: “My dad is a really good actor, and there are a lot of sh-tty actors, and I definitely think I’m one of them.”
Robin Wright should have let Sean name the baby Steak Penn. Let Sean (or Ham Senior, or perhaps Señor Ham) live with that choice and then see how quickly Sean admits he made a mistake by naming a baby Steak! And if we’re just naming babies by our favorite foods now, how many babies would be named Cupcake, Peanut Butter M&Ms, Potato Chips, Pecan Pie and Beer. Mojito Penn? Baked Potato Penn? Meatball Penn?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
