Sean Penn compares being unvaccinated to ‘pointing a gun in somebody’s face’

‘I believe it should be mandatory, like turning your headlights on in a car at night,’ said the actor

Sean Penn has compared being unvaccinated in public to “going around pointing a gun in somebody’s face”.

The actor opened up about his views on vaccination during a recent interview with Michael Smerconish on CNN to promote his latest film Flag Day, which also stars his daughter Dylan.

Earlier this month, in relation to the release of Flag Day, Penn warned cinema-goers to “stay home” until they have received their vaccination.

Speaking to Smerconish, Penn remained firm in his opinion but added: “Eventually [Flag Day] will stream and that’s a better time for the unvaccinated to see it, although I’ll probably offend them out of that choice.”

During their discussion, the Mystic River actor brought up the US’s Second Amendment, which reads: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Speaking about its relevance to his stance on vaccinations, Penn said: “I have some areas of strong belief in the Second Amendment.

“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 61-year-old also opened up about his recent refusal to return to the set of his Starz TV series Gaslit until the full cast and crew were vaccinated, instead of solely those personally interacting with the actors.

Penn said he did not “want to feel complicit in something that was taking care of one group and not the other”.

Dylan Penn and her father Sean at an event for ‘Flag Day' (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

The Oscar-winner continued: “I do believe that everyone should get vaccinated. I believe it should be mandatory, like turning your headlights on in a car at night.”

In the UK, NHS plans are in place to roll out third doses of the vaccine from 6 September for people who might “really need” another jab. No official decision has been made yet.