'I Have Huge Regrets': Robin Wright Slams Her Own Parenting With Ex Sean Penn And Claims Actor Was 'Gone So Much Of The Time' Due to Hollywood Career
Robin Wright has admitted to having 'huge regrets' over how she parented her two children with ex-husband Sean Penn.
Sept. 1 2025, Updated 1:40 p.m. ET
Robin Wright has slammed her own parenting skills and claims ex-husband Sean Penn was barely around when their children were growing up.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress, who shares Dylan Penn, 34, and Hopper Penn, 32, with the Milk star, admits she struggled bringing up their kids without his support and when the Oscar winner was present, he would often be the "policeman"-type figure.
'He'd Be The Policeman'
Wright says her husband would be away a lot working but would be strict when present at home.
Wright, 59, said: "He was gone so much of the time. He'd come back and be the policeman and then he'd leave me with the residue.
"Then I would soften the blow. We were both extremes. They didn't get that grey area in the middle, which is stern, and that is what they needed."
Over the years, their son Hopper has been candid about the struggles he's faced in his personal life including his addiction to crystal meth and how his father helped him out of it.
He previously said: "I was doing a lot of stuff but meth was the main one that brought me down. I went to rehab because I woke up in hospital and my dad said, 'Rehab? Or bus bench?' I was like, 'I'll take the bed.'
"Thank God I got out of that because that was the worst time in my life. Because it's not fun when it gets to a point where you just need it."
Drug Addiction
The couple's son Hopper beat a drug addiction due to his father's insistence he went to rehab.
Dylan has worked as a model and an actress following in her parents' footsteps.
Wright met Penn, 65, on the set of State of Grace in 1990 and had an on-off relationship before marrying in 1996.
When their relationship became public knowledge they moved to a small town near San Francisco where Wright stepped back from acting to focus on motherhood.
As much as she still believes this was the right decision, the actress said she would have done some things differently in how she raised her children.
Wright said: "I have a huge regret as a mother and have experienced the fallout of this regret for many years with my kids — I wasn't hard enough on them."
Following In Parents' Footsteps
Dylan Penn has gone intro acting like her famous parents.
Penn and Wright have a history of splitting up and getting back together.
They wed in 1996 then planned on divorcing in December 2007 but called it off four months later.
They separated again in April 2009, but withdrew the documents the following month; however, Wright filed the divorce documents in August 2009 and their divorce was finalized in July 2010.
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Wright and Penn broke up several times before finally divorcing in 2010.
Wright and Penn began a relationship in 1989 following his divorce from Madonna.
Penn was married to Australian actress Leila George, 31, from 2020 to 2022.
Wright was also in a years-long on-and-off relationship with actor Ben Foster, who’s 14 years her junior.
The two broke off their engagement for a second time in 2020.
Wright is now dating architect Henry Smith, whom she met in the U.K.
