Sean Penn tells unvaccinated people not to go see his new film

Let's all go to the movies? Not if you're unvaccinated, Sean Penn says.

The actor appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to promote his new film Flag Day, which is playing exclusively in movie theaters. But he pushed for unvaccinated people to stay home and just wait for its streaming release.

"I'd ask that, as much as I want people all to go to the theater, I really only want people who are vaccinated and safe to themselves and each other to go," he said. "And it will stream."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Penn has been passionately advocating for COVID-19 vaccination while promoting Flag Day, in a recent appearance on CNN comparing being unvaccinated to "pointing a gun in somebody's face" and arguing that vaccination should be mandatory. He previously refused to return to work on his series Gaslit until the entire production was vaccinated.

"I do believe that everyone should get vaccinated," Penn said on CNN. "I believe it should be mandatory, like turning your headlights on in the car at night."

Then again, Penn quipped on Seth Meyers after making his request, "most of the people who aren't vaccinated probably aren't interested in my movies anyway."