Hollywood actor Sean Penn has clinched his third Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards on Monday, emerging as one of the few artistes to achieve this feat.
The 65-year-old actor bagged the coveted trophy in the best supporting actor category for his villainous role in One Battle After Another.
However, Penn decided to skip the ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Penn has already skipped several major awards ceremonies this season, including the Actor and Bafta Awards. He attended the Golden Globe Awards, where he famously smoked cigarettes on camera before losing to Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value.
Penn has previously won two Oscars for Best Actor at the Academy Awards — first for his portrayal of Jimmy Markum in Mystic River and later for playing gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk.
This win has added the actor to the rare group of artistes with three acting Oscars, which includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman, while Katharine Hepburn remains the record holder with four acting Oscars.
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Penn plays the main antagonist, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw. He is a corrupt, zealot-like military officer who oversees an immigration detention center and spends much of the film desperately trying to gain entry into an elite, fascist “Christmas Adventurers Club”.
Penn’s character drives the plot by abducting the daughter of the protagonist (Leonardo DiCaprio), leading to a high-stakes confrontation that unearths a secret past between the two men.
Penn rose to prominence in the early 1980s with films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Bad Boys before establishing himself as a serious dramatic actor through acclaimed performances in Mystic River, Milk, Dead Man Walking, The Thin Red Line and I Am Sam.
Beyond acting, Penn has also worked as a filmmaker, helming projects such as The Pledge and Into the Wild. Besides the world of cinema, Penn remains active in humanitarian and political causes.