Sean Penn says he felt ‘misery’ making movies for years. Then Dakota Johnson knocked on his door

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Sean Penn says he hadn’t felt joy making a movie in 15 years. “I’d felt misery in making movies,” the two-time Oscar winner recalled during a recent interview. “At first you’re putting it off to, ‘Well, this script is a problem, and this director is a problem.’ But then I caught myself a few times working on great things with great people and just as miserable.” That is until his neighbor, Dakota Johnson, knocked on his door with a script and an invitation to be her co-star. Christy Hall, center, writer/director of the film “Daddio,” poses with cast members Sean Penn, left, and Dakota Johnson, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Santa Monica, Calif. “This movie is about the human condition, that there’s two sides to all of us. “I think that a lot of the studios, well streaming platforms mostly, are run by people who don’t even really like movies or watch them.” Johnson said she “attacked” the script for “Daddio” when she first read it because she loved it so much, and spent years through TeaTime, her production company, working with Hall to get the film financed.