Robin Wright has spoken about the challenges of co-parenting with her ex-husband Sean Penn, describing them as opposite “extremes” in their parenting styles. The House of Cards star, who was married to the two-time Oscar winner from 1996 to 2010, told The Times that Penn was the stricter parent, often returning from filming to assume the role of the “policeman”.
Wright explained that Penn’s absences meant he would come home and enforce discipline, leaving her to deal with the aftermath. “He was gone so much of the time. He’d come back and be the policeman and then he’d leave me with the residue,” she said. She added that she tried to “soften the blow” of his strictness, but they struggled to find a middle ground.
The actress, who shares children Dylan Frances, 34, and Hopper Jack, 32, with Penn, said she turned down major roles to focus on family, including Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Despite no regrets about prioritising her children, she admitted: “I have a huge regret as a mother and have experienced the fallout of this regret for many years with my kids – I wasn’t hard enough on them.”
Wright reflected on the anxiety of parenthood, saying: “Every day if the phone rings you’re, like, ‘Is he alive? Is she alive?’ I went through that for so many years with both of them.” She noted that both children are now in a “really good place”. Their son Hopper, who has spoken about his crystal meth addiction, previously described Penn as strict but said he has “chilled out in his older age”.
Wright, now in a relationship with British architect Henry Smith, whom she met in an English country pub, described him as “my person” and “a good, decent adult”. She was previously married to Penn and engaged to Ben Foster, and later wed French fashion executive Clément Giraudet before they split in 2022.
