Sean Penn picked up an Oscar this week after all. Not the Oscar – the one he won Sunday for his performance in One Battle After Another – but a fairly reasonable facsimile thereof made from the war-damaged metal of a Ukrainian railcar.
Penn, a strong supporter of Ukraine, skipped Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony to spend time in the war-torn country and with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After his name was announced in the Best Supporting Actor category Sunday – Penn’s third Oscar win after Mystic River and Milk – the actor was later handed an Oscar-shaped object by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the CEO of Ukrainian Railways.
In a video posted by Pertsovskyi (see it below), the CEO tells Penn, “You’re missing Oscars… So we made this one. This is from the railcar that was damaged by the Russians.”
A caption accompanying the video said, “Sean Penn opted for the trip to [Ukraine] vs. Oscar ceremony at Dolby Theater where he was awarded his 3rd. We couldn’t leave our great friend and loyal Ukrainian Raiwlays passenger without an award. So, I have presented Sean with our IronOscar on behalf of all of us!”
Handing the “IronOscar” to Penn, Pertsovskyi said “It’s not golden, but it’s very real and from the bottom of our hearts.” The object reportedly is inscribed with the words, “This steel once carried millions of people away from war. Then a Russian missile came. We did not melt it into a weapon. We forged it into gratitude — for you. For your talent. For your courage to stand with Ukraine.”
“These are all treasures,” Penn said after being handed the IronOscar. “Thank you.”
