Sean Penn decided to star opposite his daughter in 'Flag Day' at Matt Damon's urging

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 7/12/21

Sean Penn was content with directing Flag Day until he got a call from Matt Damon.

"A month and half before shooting started, Matt Damon called me, not to say he could or couldn’t, but that I was a stupid schmuck not to take this opportunity to act with my daughter in this thing," the two-time Oscar-winning actor shared at a press conference during Cannes Film Festival (h/t IndieWire). "That was the last straw. Once I decided to do that, it was a big burden off me."

Flag Day debuted at Cannes over the weekend:

Sean Penn, Dylan Penn and the cast of #FlagDay walk the Cannes red carpet arm in arm pic.twitter.com/kxGRl8esw9
— Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2021

The film is based upon Jennifer Vogel's 2004 book Flim-Flam Man and marks the first time Penn acted and directed simultaneously. The 60-year-old plays John Vogel, who leads a double life as a con man. His criminal pursuits are in the name of providing for his daughter, Jennifer, played by Penn's 30-year-old daughter, Dylan Penn.

"In a film about deception, about the search for truthfulness, it goes back to Dylan's face," Penn added during his presser. "I find her uncontrived. When you can put a camera on an actor listening, that tells the whole world of truth and deception. My cinematic focus was on Dylan's face to tell the story."

Flag Day sold to MGM last month and per Deadline, it is set for an Aug. 13 theatrical release.