Robin Wright Penn Goes It Alone

"I know what I don’t want."

Actress Robin Wright Penn, 43, has filed for divorce from husband Sean Penn. In the September 2009 issue of MORE magazine, on newsstands now, the cover girl tells Karen Breslau, “I hit that crossroad a while ago. For Robin [she gestures toward herself], the ‘I know what I don’t want’ was flashing neon lights.” Still, she’s not bitter. “I have no regrets. I, we, have two amazing children we raised together.”

Penn admits she’s having trouble coping with empty-nest syndrome now that their daughter, Dylan Frances, 18, is heading to college, and 16-year-old son Hopper Jack isn’t far behind. “At least twice a week, I pull over and sob” she says, her eyes welling. “My baby is leaving. It’s an emotionally full time, but it’s not sad. I can’t wait for Dylan to go [out and] live. That’s what makes me cry.”

The timing, however, might be perfect for Penn’s career, which is on an upward trajectory. She’s appearing in a diverse group of movies slated for release this fall: New York, I Love You; an animated version of A Christmas Carol; and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. “There’s clarity of life now,” says the actress, who achieved early fame as Buttercup in The Princess Bride. “I think I’ve always been a follow-the-leader with my career, or maybe waiting for things to happen. Now I’m like, ‘I’m OK—I know the direction, whoever’s on board can go with me.” Penn says she has more self-confidence than ever before. “I think I f*cked myself by not being strong enough. Waffling—you know, ‘Can I do this?’ I think that’s being young and finding out who you are, and all of a sudden, post-40, you just go, ‘I do know. I have the answer.’ There’s not as much questioning of my abilities.” 

For a while, she says, all her ideal roles were played by one actress: “Everything I would have wanted to do had already been done by Meryl Streep,” she says. “Sophie’s Choice. Kramer vs. Kramer. Silkwood. Done.”

Now she’s ready for more onscreen challenges. Although she's afraid of public speaking (“there’s not the protection of playing somebody”), she is fearless when it comes to acting. “Put me in front of a camera, and I could masturbate if that was what was required of my character,” she says.