Flag Day is an American drama film directed by and starring Sean Penn. His daughter Dylan Penn co-stars. It premiered in competition at the 2021 the Cannes Film Festival. It was released on August 20, 2021, by United Artist Releasing.

Q&A with Actor/Director Sean Penn and Actress Dylan Penn

Q: My understanding is that you gave Dylan the book when she was fifteen. Did you have an idea at that moment that you would want her to play Jennifer? Was that something in your mind or was it like, this is a great book, I want her to read it?

SP: Well, what had happened is that I was first presented with the screenplay before I read Jennifer Vogel’s beautiful memoir. I think it was probably, I should say, Jez Butterworth’s adaptation of the book. I think I was probably no further than page thirty that in time Dylan’s face was imprinted on it to me – imprinted in a way that there was no going back. It was either I would make it with her or I wouldn’t make it. This is long before I was considering acting and directing in it.

Q: You thought you would just direct. And then what made you decide that you would also act? It’s your first movie to do both things at the same time, right?

SP: Well, this movie’s had its own journey, and there were times where I would just direct, there were times where we would just act in it together. But the “we” always had to be “her and the “she” was not initially enthusiastic at the idea of doing this movie.

Q: Dylan, what was your journey? Initially you weren’t sure that it was something that you wanted to take on.

DP: No. I mean, I loved the story. I read the book when I was fifteen and the first time he came to me he said it was basically a “fuck-down”…  I always wanted to be in film but I always wanted to be behind the camera. I expressed that I wanted to direct and write. I was like eighteen when both my parents on separate occasions told me that I shouldn’t set foot on a set as a director unless I know what it’s like to act. So that’s initially what got me into gain auditioning. I did little bit parts here and there, and then it came back around. It felt like too good of a world to have half of. I also think I had more like fifteen years of life experience, almost, to refer to to color Jennifer’s territory.

Q: Right. You could not have played that part at fifteen.

DP: No.

Q: [to SP:] What was the first instance you got the feeling that your daughter is really good and can do this?

SP: It was around the center block in the kitchen in the house where she and her brother grew up. She would come back from school and tell stories to her mother and I about her day, and embody the characters of those stories. And it was never a kind of mimicry. It was [like] you met the people.  You knew who they were. And later when we met one, we knew exactly who that was.

So I always knew it, and to take that to somebody coming to work with written lines and hitting marks and with all that that is, I put off that thought altogether, and I was so convinced that she would be great.  But it wasn’t until she was great, which was the first day of shooting, when one of my crew members I looked up at after they saw what she did with the first take, and he just said “What the . . . “.  We all knew that we were on to something exciting because it’s Jennifer’s story and to have her play it is electric. So what happened at that point when I saw that I was right is “I was??” In other words, as exciting and thrilling as it is, the biggest part of it is relief.  It was, “Oh, thank God I didn’t set my daughter up for failure.” I hadn’t thought about that.

It is interesting [that] one of the things she sometimes leaves out of the story when she’s talking about being reluctant. She was definitely one of these young people who came from the school of thought that it is actually a ludicrous notion to be an adult playing dress-up as a job. And I think that while she came to have her own respect for it — which she can talk to — formidable respect for what it can be, I think it also is that part of that initial thinking of it as ridiculous that has that quality that is so totally without contrivance. She doesn’t come with anything to wink at the audience or to curry favor. She thinks the thoughts and lets you watch her face think them.  It’s what every actor strives to do, and Ii think she does it beautifully.

Q: So tell us from your perspective: how did you get from a “No” to “Sure, Dad, I’d love to carry your movie”?

DP: I know, it’s a big step. I mean, he’s right. I should have said earlier that once I did these parts here and there and I started auditioning and getting rejected, my respect for actors just went through the roof. I realized, wow, this is not as ridiculous as I thought it was. And I think after auditioning for so many bad roles, reading this script again felt like a dream for any actor. So who am I to pass this up?

And also, although it was pleasant to work with him, for most children who work professionally with their parents, it could be great or it could be a disaster.  Fortunately, it was great with Dad.

Q: I want to talk about that first day on the set, where you have the revelation that this is going to work. What was the first scene you did? What was it like for you to step in that role and have your dad behind the camera, but also in front of the camera playing your dad?

DP: The first scene we did together was in the Chinese restaurant and I was really nervous that day.  It’s an emotional scene, and I think I knew it was going to be really intense and it was. But as soon as I sat down in our booth and they called “action”, I felt so at ease and I also felt something that I did not expect: I felt like it was so playful. Obviously, as an actor he gives so much to play with, so much to react to, and I often say that my dad allows for that chemistry to play as well. But I just had so much fun with him, so as an actor it was the greatest thing you could ask for.

Q: When you’re sitting at that table and you’re looking at your dad in that moment, is there a separation there?

DP: Rarely. It’s always going to be my dad at the end of the day. But I think it’s specifically when I saw the scene where I see him kill himself. I hadn’t seen that footage until the day of, so that’s actually my real reaction. So if you can imagine, seeing your father look up at the camera and shoot himself in the head, it’s a lot. But also, it’s her thing because this is Jennifer’s story, it’s not mine. But yes, I can see my dad through John.

Q: Sean, you were watching her watch that. What was that like for you?

SP: Watching her watch that scene? There were several instances where I felt that for asking her to go into those emotional places, I should call Child Protective Services on myself. It took me a little while to get comfortable with the fact that she wanted to explore those things as much as any actor is driven to do.

But I think there was a key moment when she came away from her first meeting with Jennifer Vogel. And while we approached this, with Jennifer’s encouragement and her acceptance with a lot of poetic license, and I think the book, which everyone should read, is a standalone. This is the kind of expression from aspects of that. But I think that it was very strengthening for Dylan to spend time with Jennifer. I think that among the many ways in which you have a lot of partners as a director to establish the comfort or the confidence of your actors, she was an essential partner in that.

Q: Did you ever butt heads?

SP: I’m going to say yes, because I know if I don’t, she will — this is one time I’m going to get ahead of her on the truth.

DP: Honestly, it wasn’t a lot, but we did have a two-hour standoff about whether I would or wouldn’t wear mascara for a certain scene. Sounds about right. He won.

SP: And I won “no mascara” for the scene.

Q: It’s interesting to try to be truth-telling about someone who was such a liar.  How do you respect the truth of the story, how much poetic license do you take?

SP: Well, the funny thing is that whether it’s reading the book or reading Jez’s screenplay, I think as a filmmaker you’re struck with an impression that becomes your interpretation. Now, there are certain processes and certain movies where you might approach it, for ethical reasons as much as anything else, in really trying to get the facts straight in a very literal way. But this had gone from a faith that Jennifer had in Jez to a faith that Jez and Horberg [producer] initially had in me, and then it became a kind of family of those supporting this impression that I had. And that’s the direction we went with it, rather than to just try and get everything as some kind of a factual history.

Q: Let’s talk about the music. The intro about the music was awesome, and the music is really profound, it’s really beautiful. How did you come to work with such people as Glen Hansard, Eddie Vetter — his daughter sang the “Father’s Daughter” song which is super cool — Cat Power? When did you bring those people on board?

SP: I had had a great experience working with Eddie Vetter on Into the Wild and we had become extremely close friends. I think everything I picked up to be considered for directing from that time on, he would be one of my first calls to say “Read this, see if you get a musical impression out of it.”

In this case, he was the closest American voice I knew as a songwriter who could reflect this story. But he was also a man, and Into the Wild is kindof a reflected subconscious of the male character. This is a female-generated story — it has a little yin-yang with the father-daughter so this would not be just one voice, but dominantly, it should be a female voice. So Ed did a workshop with Glen Hansard, the two of them songwriting together came up with the beginnings of some of the songs that are here. And the idea was that, for no other reason than just that he had been my dependable collaborator, I hadn’t thought to get a singer-songwriter.

I was just thinking about a female vocalist. I listened to all the best, many of whom do write, many of whom don’t.  And I listened to people I’ve heard of and people that other people [told me about]. And I couldn’t find a voice that felt like the way that she, I felt, would move me as Jennifer. And then so we did this novel thing: I asked her [Jennifer] and she suggested first one up, Cat Power, and I listened to Cat Power who I never heard before. I said this would be great.

I called Ed. He had worked with her and known her and called her, and he kindof curated the whole thing. And then the very last heavy ending is when he brought his sixteen-year-old daughter, Olivia, in to sing the end tail song. Cat ended up writing quite a lot of stuff as well as singing it.

Q: What did you two learn about each other? Did you learn anything — that you can say in polite company?

SP: Dylan and I, I think, in a lot of ways have a lot in common. We both have a kind of force of will. But most of the experience on this was sortof like you dreamt that you could walk out on the edge of a cliff together and survive, and you wake up and you’re on that cliff. And so it just affirmed the dream in so many ways, creatively.

As a human being, I don’t know if I know her better, or less than I will tomorrow versus day before yesterday, She’s a moving target. I just know I fell in love a long, long time ago, thirty years ago, and it’s a continuum.

DP: I can’t even follow [that]. But yeah, he’s right, it just solidified the bond that I already knew we have. This is a really inappropriate parallel, but I don’t know what other words to use. It kindof feels like to do a movie with somebody is like going into battle. So I do feel that we survived it together.

Q: But will you do it again?

DP: I want to reverse the roles [and direct].

Q: Thank you all so much

Here’s the trailer of the film.