HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Sean Penn says his relationship with ex-wife Robin Wright has gone silent after nearly two decades together.
"She is a ghost to me now," he tells author-historian Douglas Brinkley for Vanity Fair's July issue "We spent all those years together.... Now she's just gone."
After several attempts to save their marriage, the couple finally divorced last August. Penn, 49, has since focused his time on humanitarian causes, including Haiti, where he's spent the last five months assisting in relief efforts following January's devastating earthquake.
"I wanted to give back something more to help struggling people, but I didn't know how best to do it," Penn explains. "I was for 20 years in a relationship with Robin and 18 years with children. I didn't have time to commit to anything—for real—in places like Iraq, except to denounce the war. But now I'm single. I can lend a hand."
Penn also says his commitment to the Caribbean nation is long-term.
"There is no exit for me until there is more life than death," he tells Brinkley. "I can always see light in any situation. It's just the way I'm made. I'm capable of making foolish commitments. Of being a fool. But I can see the light very clearly in terms of the 'big picture' for Haiti."
Adds Penn: "There is a strength of character in the people who have, by and large, never experienced comfort. That's exactly the character that our Main Street culture lacks and needs in the United States. In other words, we need Haiti."
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