“If I’m going to be in a relationship, I’m still going to be free, or I’m not going to be in it, and I’m not going to be hurting,” the actor said

Sean Penn is “thrilled every day” to be single.

The actor, 63, opened up about why his perspective on romance has changed in an interview with The New York Times.

“I’m just free. If I’m going to be in a relationship, I’m still going to be free, or I’m not going to be in it, and I’m not going to be hurting,” Penn said. “I don’t sense I’ll have my heart broken by romance again.”

Penn was previously married to Madonna from 1985 to 1989. In 1996, he tied the knot with Robin Wright, with whom he shares daughter Dylan Frances Penn, 33, and son Hopper Jack Penn, 30.

After their 2010 divorce, he married Australian actress Leila George in 2020. In October 2021, George filed for divorce, and the process was finalized in April 2022. He’s also been romantically linked to Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson, and actress Olga Korotyayeva.

While reflecting on his love life, the two-time Oscar winner recalled instances where “the first thing I see in the morning are eyes wondering what I’m going to do to make them happy that day. Rarely reciprocated.”

He reminisced about one of his marriages, saying, “On one of my marriages, the background noise of life was a [Real] Housewives of Beverly Hills or another thing called Love Island. Not even being in the room — I’m not saying this to be cute — I was dying. I felt my heart, my brain shrinking. It was an assault.”

Penn told the outlet that his “friends in the female department,” who are “beautiful, wonderful people, wonderful with their partners or wonderful on their own,” have shown him that “relationships don’t have to be dramatic or draining.”

The movie star told the publication that he no longer loves the “drama in romance” and avoids “unnecessary drama and visits from the trauma gods.”

Penn’s new movie, Daddio, costarring Dakota Johnson, opens in theaters on June 28.