Cast member Sean Penn arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “Flag Day
Cast member Sean Penn arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “Flag Day" at the Directors Guild of America Theater on Wed., August 11, 2021 in Los Angeles. Image Credit: Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Hollywood actor Sean Penn is hoping that people who’ve not been vaccinated will avoid watching his movie ‘Flag Day’ at the cinemas.

“I am so grateful that audiences — and yes, we’ll come around to that I would request only vaccinated audiences — have an opportunity to see this theatrically,” he said in an interview with CNN.

“It’s rare these days to have something that is exclusively theatrical. Eventually, it will stream, and that’s a better time for the unvaccinated to see it, though I think I’ll probably offend them out of that choice,” Penn added.

In his interview on CNN, the star reiterated his views about being pro-vaccines and wanting them being compulsory for staff to return to movie sets.

“I have some areas of strong belief in the Second Amendment,” he told host Michael Smerconish. “But I think that you need to recognise how, you know, with something like this, you can’t go around pointing a gun in somebody’s face, which is what it is when people are unvaccinated.”

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of US citizens to keep and bear arms.

In July, Penn said he would not return to the set of Starz’s Watergate series ‘Gaslit’ until all cast and crew on the production have had the COVID-19 vaccine. In his recent interview, he explained how according to the regulations, only crew members working closely with actors on a set have to be vaccinated while others don’t. The ‘Mystic River’ expressed concern about other people on set who might be vulnerable because of this.

“I didn’t want to feel complicit in something that was taking care of one group and not the other,” Penn said. “And I do believe that everyone should get vaccinated. I believe it should be mandatory, like turning your headlights on in the car at night.”