As everyone knows, Sean Penn isn't exactly the quiet type.
But even this outspoken Oscar winner isn't immune to being at a loss for words every once in awhile.
We know of at least one time he was actually struck speechless...
It was after seeing Javier Bardem's new movie, Biutiful.
"I showed it to him one year ago and he couldn't walk, couldn't talk for like 15 minutes because he was just sitting there," the movie's director Alejandro González Iñárritu says. "He couldn't really put himself, his thoughts and his feelings together."
And that's a good thing. Biutiful isn't a simple movie. The emotions it evokes are powerful.
The Spanish-language film is the story of an impoverished cancer-stricken man (Bardem) who is trying to get his life in order for his two young children before he dies.
Bardem won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance. Quite surprisingly, he didn't make the cut when the nominations were announced earlier this month for the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
What happened? González Iñárritu assumes Bardem was overlooked because many have yet to see Biutiful. "I think the fact that the film has not been out yet, that many people havn't seen it or we don't have the money to spend to put all the ads out there," he said. "They have 40 DVDs to watch. Maybe Biutiful will be the last one for them to watch because it's a subtitled film. There's many filters or challenges that we have to face."
Thankfully, there's still time for Bardem to snag an Oscar nom. "I have big hopes," González Iñárritu said. "I truly believe that once [they] see it, I hope they will rethink it."
We'll second that.
FYI to Los Angeles: Buy your tickets now for tomorrow night's 7:10 pm showing of Biutiful at the AMC Century City 15. We just got word that Bardem will be on hand for a surprise Q&A.