Sean Penn takes "inspiration" from director Paolo Sorrentino. The Milk actor plays Irish ex-rockstar Cheyenne in Sorrentino's new drama This Must Be The Place and has been inspired by his directing style, which he finds particularly engaging:

"He had very clear ideas of the physicality in terms of the visual, the look of the character. It's an unusual kind of plan, to work with a director like this. So many of the things that he gives the actors that are in our domain to create, you will always have a challenge waiting for you. He provides so much of it, you might as well listen. I think, to me, it's very fair to say that he is one of the very few film masters going right now. Somebody who's going to make cinema for a long time, in a way that will inspire us. So as an actor, you are also an appreciator of him, and you try to take a lot of inspiration from him."

The pair first met at the Cannes Film Festival where Sorrentio's latest project was being showcased, and decided to work together while they were taking part in a photo-call.

"I was participating in the Jury and among the film's that were given awards was Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo. At the end everyone gets on stage for a group photo - I was standing next to him, his English, which is better today was pretty broken then, so I just said something like, 'Any time, any where.' Then he just went ahead and wrote the script, about a year later he called me up and said, 'Sean, I have written you this script,' and I got this wonderful script from him."