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A LOST INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS PENN
By Richard Livsey
untimely death was felt throughout
Hollywood and the world.
And although Penn had always lived under
the shadow of his older brother Sean, he
was a talented actor that will be missed
by a host of friends and contemporaries.
Chris Penn's feature debut was in Francis
Ford Coppola's cult classic Rumblefish in
1983. Without skipping a beat, he scored
some juicy roles along side Tom Cruise in
All The Right Moves and Kevin Bacon in
Footloose.
From there the acting gigs just got better, as he found
his way into Clint Eastwood's epic western, Pale
Rider. And let's not forget his explosive portrayal of
Nice Guy Eddie in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir
Dogs and then later in one of the grittiest love stories
ever told, True Romance.
I had the chance to interview him a little over ten years
ago for the underground arts monthly, Cover
Magazine. Unfortunately, that publication is no longer
on the newsstands, but this interview still remains.
Here are some choice moments from that interview:
Richard Livsey: Your resume is pretty
impressive. How did you land so many
interesting roles?
Chris Penn: I almost had two careers in a sense
because I did the young kid movies early on. Now, I'm
doing character roles in more adult films, but I still do
kid movies every now and then. I did Beethoven's 2nd
which I had fun doing. You got to have balance. I can't
have my little cousins, nephews and nieces see
Reservoir Dogs.
RL: Would you be interested in doing a love
story?
CP: Yeah, but nobody wants to fall in love with me.
Can you believe that?
RL: Who would you like to star opposite?
CP: Gong Li. She starred in Raise the Red Lantern
and To Live. She's a Chinese actress. She's one of
the greatest actresses. She's Meryl Streep in her
prime.
Man Walking. The film turned out to be one of the
most controversial movie in years, and Penn wasn't
shy about his own personal feelings regarding the
picture that got his brother nominated for Best Actor.
RL: Have you seen any good movies lately?
CP: Dead Man Walking, best film of the year by far. I
don't say that because my brother is in it. It's my
brother's best performance. It's just fucking flat out is.
It's the only important American film made this year.
RL: Why do you feel that it is so important?
CP: I think it will probably change some people that
believe in the death penalty, and make them not
believe in it. It will probably make some people who
don't believe in it, believe in it. But I don't think that it's
totally apolitical, it's just an honest portrayal of the
facts. It really makes people think, and that's all you
can do in a film.
Previously published in Cover Magazine