Sean Penn Talks PTA, Brian de Palma, Terrence Malick and Above All His Love of Cinema at Lumière Film Festival

Sean Penn may be one of Hollywood’s most intense performers, but at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, where he is this year’s guest of honor, he appeared relaxed, funny and disarmingly candid, sharing stories about filmmaking, aging and activism before a packed theater.

At a festival devoted to celebrating both classic and contemporary cinema – and the theatrical experience itself – the two-times Oscar winner began by recalling his first love: the movie theater itself.

“I’ve talked a lot about the experience that I fell in love with, like the girl you fall in love with,” he said. “With cinema, it was in a cinema, with strangers and a big screen. So I’ve had a very difficult time, just as an audience, making the transition into somehow accepting all this streaming and small-screen stuff.”

Known for his total immersion in roles like the death row inmate of…