Sean Penn reportedly isn’t interested in a workplace that isn’t fully vaccinated, throwing production on Gaslit into turmoil in the process. The actor has apparently offered to vaccinate everyone working on the Starz limited production and has reportedly gone as far as to say he won’t return to work on the show until everyone involved has gotten the jab.
According to Deadline, Penn’s work on Gaslit is on hold until the crew, which is working on the show in Burbank, gets vaccinated.
In a move that likely will reverberate across an industry still trying to deal with Covid, Penn is refusing to return to work on Gaslit — the UCP-produced Starz limited series he stars in with Julia Roberts — until everyone on the production has been vaccinated for the virus. With the highly contagious Delta variant raging enough that Los Angeles has re-imposed indoor mask wearing and cases among the unvaccinated are spiking again at alarming levels across the country, Penn has insisted to the production that the vaccination of everyone must be mandatory. Through his organization, CORE, Penn has offered to facilitate the vaccination effort, free of charge.
Deadline notes that NBCUniversal has mandated vaccines for “Zone A” crew, which is the cast and anyone in close proximity. An on-site vaccine clinic was also established, but Penn wants everyone involved in the production to be protected from the pandemic and the ever-dangerous Delta variant that’s shown to be increasingly contagious around the world.
It’s unclear how the crew has responded to this demand, or Penn’s willingness to help those get the jab. But it’s one of the first major stars to demand a fully vaccinated workplace in Hollywood, and it will certainly be interesting to see how the staff and others in the industry respond.
[via Deadline]