Sean Penn won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for his role in “One Battle After Another.”

President Zelenskyy thanks Oscars no-show Sean Penn for visit: ‘We know what a true friend of Ukraine is’

Sean Penn won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for his role in "One Battle After Another."

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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March 16, 2026 3:20 p.m. ET

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Sean Penn. Credit:

Thierry Monasse/Getty; Jeff Spicer/Getty

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Oscar winner Sean Penn for his recent visit to Ukraine.

- The actor won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Academy Award for his performance in *One Battle After Another*.

- Penn was absent from the Oscars, along with the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is recognizing his "friend" and Oscar winner Sean Penn.

The day after the 98th Academy Awards, Zelenskyy took to social media to praise Penn, who won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for his role in *One Battle After Another*, while also thanking the actor for his recent visit to Ukraine.

Penn was noticeably absent from the awards show at the Dolby Theatre.

"Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," Zelenskyy began, sharing a photograph of him and the *Dead Man Walking *star.

"You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today. And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people."

Sean Penn and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in November 2022.

Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Penn and Zelenskyy have been friends for years. In 2023, Penn and co-director Aaron Kaufman released *Superpower*, a documentary that followed Zelenskyy's rise to power and eventually leading Ukraine amid the war with Russia.

He spoke about his activism at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, France, in 2025.**

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“I don’t know that I differentiate between getting up in the morning and going to my workshop and building a piece of furniture from going to a movie set and acting or directing a movie, or anything I’ve done working in the NGO space or with the documentary *Superpower*,” he said at the time, per *Variety*.

"It all feels like you’re always looking to be value added. Sometimes you’re not; sometimes you can catch yourself inflaming a situation. You have to weigh risk-benefit on everything – to the situation, not to oneself.”**

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Last year's winner, *A Real Pain *star Kieran Culkin, presented the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar on Sunday. Upon reading Penn's name, Culkin said, "Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening, or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf."

Per an article published by *The New York Times *during the awards show, Penn "was to visit Ukraine, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter."**

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Sean Penn in November 2022.

Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty

The other nominees in Penn's category were Jacob Elordi for* Frankenstein*, Stellan Skarsgård for *Sentimental Value*, Delroy Lindo for *Sinners*, and costar Benicio del Toro for *One Battle After Another*.

During this awards season, Penn also failed to attend the Actors Awards and the BAFTAs. He was present at the Golden Globes in January. That evening, however, he lost to Skarsgård. Penn previously won two Best Actor Oscars: for *Mystic River *in 2004 and* Milk*, five years later.

In 2022, Penn gifted his *Mystic River *statuette to Zelenskyy as a loan, per *The Hollywood Reporter*.

See the full list of 2026 Oscar winners*.*

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