Sean Penn Says He Couldn't Play This Famous Gay Role Again Today - Reason Why Revealed

Sean Penn is reflecting on his career.

The 63-year-old actor recently said in an interview with The New York Times that he would not be able to play Harvey Milk in 2008′s acclaimed Milk today when looking back on his filmography.

While he said it was “the last time I had a good time” on a film set, and that “I went 15 years miserable on sets,” he said he could not star in the film today as straight actors playing queer characters has become a controversial move.

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“No. It could not happen in a time like this,” he said. “It’s a time of tremendous overreach. It’s a timid and artless policy toward the human imagination.”

Regarding his 15 miserable years on film sets, he said it was because he felt like “an actor who is playing a leading role and is a known actor and is being paid well [and] has a leadership position on a film and you’ve got to show up with energy and be a bodyguard for the director in some way.”

“I was faking my way through that stuff and that was exhausting,” he went on. “Mostly what I thought was just, ‘What time is it? When are we going to get off?’…I was sure it was done, but I didn’t know how I was going to keep my house running or travel freely or things like that if I stopped.”

Sean Penn also addressed the rumor he abused Madonna.