Robin Wright Opens Up About Regretful Parenting With Sean Penn: “We Were Both Extremes”

The actress gets candid about raising her kids with ex-husband Sean Penn and the lessons she learned along the way.

Robin Wright is getting honest about motherhood and the parenting challenges she faced while raising her two children, Dylan and Hopper, with ex-husband Sean Penn. In a new interview with The Times of London, the 59-year-old actress admitted she holds “huge regret” over how she handled discipline while co-parenting.

“I wasn’t hard enough on them,” Wright said. “That’s a regret I’ve lived with for years.”

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“Is He Alive? Is She Alive?”

Wright shares daughter Dylan, 34, and son Hopper, 32, with Penn, and both kids went through their share of rebellion during their teenage years. Hopper has been open about battling a crystal meth addiction in the past, which only deepened Wright’s worries as a mom.

“Every day if the phone rings you’re like, ‘Is he alive? Is she alive?’” she recalled. “I went through that for so many years with both of them.”

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While she admitted to being too soft, Wright said Penn, 65, was the opposite. “He’d come back and be the policeman,” she explained, “and then he’d leave me with the residue.”

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Wright says their parenting dynamic created a disconnect for the kids. Penn, who was often away working on film sets, took on the disciplinarian role, while Wright ended up trying to ease the tension. “Then I would soften the blow,” she said. “We were both extremes. They didn’t get that grey area in the middle, which is stern, and that is what they needed.”

Despite those rocky years, Wright shared that both Dylan and Hopper are now “in a really good place,” which brings her comfort.

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From Hollywood Couple to Co-Parents

Wright and Penn were married for 14 years before divorcing in 2010. Since then, both have had multiple marriages and high-profile relationships. Wright notably had a years-long on-and-off relationship with actor Ben Foster, which ended in 2020.

She is now dating British architect Henry Smith. “He is a sweetheart and just a good, decent adult,” she said of her new partner. “He’s a man.”

A Friendship After Divorce

Wright also shared that she and Penn are now on friendly terms, which wasn’t always the case. In a 2023 interview with E! News, she said the two had worked to rebuild their relationship after being estranged post-divorce.

“Being divorced while having kids is one of the most difficult things in life,” she said at the time. “We’re always gonna be a family, whether we’re together or apart, you know, and I think that’s beautiful and I wish that for everybody.”

Though her parenting journey wasn’t perfect, Wright’s reflection shows that she’s learned and grown — and that there’s always hope for healing, both as a parent and as a family.