Sean Penn Reacts to Madonna Calling Him the Love of Her Life, 30 Years Later

In her 1991 documentary Truth or Dare, Madonna declared that Sean Penn was the love of her life. And more than three decades later, the actor is sharing his thoughts on it.

In an interview on The Louis Theroux Podcast posted Monday (May 12), Penn said that his superstar ex-wife was “very sweet” for her remarks in the Alek Keshishian-directed doc when asked whether he recalled what she’d said. “I do,” he told Theroux. “Look, she’s been a good friend for a lot of years.”

The two-time Oscar-winning actor went on to reflect on his four-year marriage to Madge, with whom he also co-starred in 1986’s Shanghai Surprise. After their divorce in 1989, the exes stayed friends.

“It didn’t take us long to realize that we had mistaken a good first date for a wedding partner,” Penn said. “It didn’t take us long to recover after we got divorced, maybe a year, in a friendship. I have a lot of fond memories of it – it’s not all jail.”

The actor added: “But there was a lot of alcohol and she’d be fairly accusing me of that.”

Following her split from Penn, the “Material Girl” singer would go on to marry Guy Ritchie in 2000 before they separated in 2008. Penn was married to Robin Wright from 1996 to 2010, followed by Leila George from 2020 to 2022.

Penn’s thoughts on the Truth or Dare documentary come just after a report that a long-awaited biopic about Madonna’s life is finally in the works. According to Deadline, the star has teamed up with Shawn Levy for a Netflix limited series about her life and career.

Madge is also currently working on new music with producer Stuart Price, who worked on her Billboard 200-topping 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor. It’s been about six years since the “Vogue” singer last dropped a proper album, releasing Madame X in 2019.