Ukraine rail gives actor Sean Penn an ‘Oscar’ made from train carriage hit by Russia

Sean Penn skipped the Oscars to visit Ukraine and received a symbolic statue made from damaged metal. Photo / Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ), AFP

US actor Sean Penn, who skipped Sunday’s Oscars ceremony to visit Ukraine, has been gifted a symbolic version of the famous statuette made from the damaged metal of a train carriage hit in a Russian strike.

Penn, a staunch backer of Kyiv, scooped the best supporting actor award at the glitzy Hollywood ceremony for his role in dystopian dramedy One Battle After Another but chose to visit Ukraine instead of receiving the award in person.

Penn is a vocal advocate for Ukraine and has visited the country several times since Russia invaded, including to co-direct a documentary about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he calls a friend.

Ukraine’s state rail group said on Tuesday it wanted to make sure the star got his hands on the award – in one form or another – despite his trip to Kyiv.

“Sean Penn came to Ukraine and missed the Academy Awards – so Ukrainian railway gave him one of his own,” Ukrainian railways [Ukrzaliznytsia] said on X.

The company posted a video of its CEO gifting Penn a silver statue in the shape of an Oscar carved from a flat piece of metal.

“This Oscar was made of the metal of a railway car” damaged in a Russian attack, it said, calling the statuette “a symbol of resilience”.

Penn had in 2022 given Zelenskyy one of his real Oscar statues during a visit to Ukraine.

The actor had won two previous awards for his roles in Mystic River and Milk.

Zelenskyy told AFP in February that Penn’s One Battle After Another was one of his most recently watched films.

- Agence France-Presse