‘It Just Felt Right’: Actress Dylan Penn On Working With Her Dad in the Cannes Drama ‘Flag Day’
Your character does a kind of 180, in that she goes from struggling with drug abuse to getting sober, getting a job, and generally taking control of her life. Did you go through anything similar in your own life that you could draw from?
There was a period of time right after I stopped modeling when I moved to New York for a guy and I didn’t have a job. I was 25, and I was there for a year, and he was working nonstop and I kind of started living a double life. I was kind of like his—I don’t want to say “arm-candy,” because we had a real relationship, but he just wasn’t really present. When he would go to work, I would go off and do a lot of drugs and drink a lot, and I was out with people that weren’t friends of mine. I ended up getting sober, and I did a 45-day stint in an all women’s group therapy healing center in Arizona, which was really life-changing. And after that I did a year and a half of sobriety just to see how I felt. And I think that really changed who I was at my core. It’s something that I’m really grateful I did at a young age, because it really set me up for the rest of my life.
Did you bring that experience to Jennifer’s character?
Yes, especially when she was younger—doing drugs and partying and trying to escape her reality. I completely remember that. It feels so far removed from me, but I could really tap into that time in my life, especially when she goes to college and tries to find out what her purpose is. I think that really came to me after I did this 45-day stint.
What did you do after the 45-day stint?
I did a halfway program for two months, which was really intense. Then I moved home, and that’s when I decided to continue my sobriety.
