Would Sean Penn Run for Office? Plus: He Talks Val Kilmer Doc and His New Movie ‘Flag Day’

It was a family affair in Hollywood as Sean Penn and his daughter and co-star Dylan hit the red carpet Wednesday for the premiere of their new film “Flag Day.”

“Extra’s” Jenn Lahmers caught up with the stars, and asked if Sean would ever run for office.

Jenn said, “A lot of actors of your caliber have decided they want to possibly make a run for office. You’ve been an extreme activist through your CORE foundation — is this something that you might consider doing yourself?”

He answered, “The Irish playwright Brendan Behan was asked this once. He says, ‘I can never… run for political office because I only have but one face.’”

You may not see him in D.C., but Penn is in the new Val Kilmer documentary, telling Jenn the two have stayed in touch. “Yeah, I have kept in touch and... coincidentally, I saw the movie today for the first time, Val's movie.” Dylan added, “Same.”

Sean said, “What an incredibly inventive, creative, beautiful artist he is… Of course, such a struggle he’s been through, but what he’s done with it, with this film, everybody should see that.”

Everybody should also see Dylan make her big-screen debut in “Flag Day.” Sean directed the film and stars in it, too. He gushed about working with his daughter, saying, “It’s extremely exciting when you see how extraordinary she is, but I think as much as it’s exciting, it’s also a relief because you recognize you could have set your kid up for some disastrous thing… We always knew that the job, once we started shooting, we knew that our job was for the movie to be as good as she was in it… She sort of set the bar.”

Sean plays a con-man bank robber in the film, a counterfeiter who tries to hide his secret life from his daughter played by Dylan. Talking about working with her dad, Dylan said, “It was really powerful and intense, but also surprisingly so playful, and as a director he's really, like, of course he guides you, but he’s pretty hands-off… Just to play off of him as an actor is the best, the best.”

Her mom Robin Wright also offered some advice. Dylan said, “She just said it was the best experience she had working with him as a director, so I thought, ‘Well, if she can do it, I should do it.’”

Sean added, “It’s awfully nice to hear… she was a big support to this movie and clearly a big contributor to who this one is, and so I’m appreciative all the way around.”