Sean Penn and his girlfriend Valeria Nicov arrived hand-in-hand at the afterparty for One Battle After Another on Tuesday night at the Nomad Hotel in London, following the film’s premiere earlier in the evening.
The 64-year-old actor, dressed in a black suit, and Nicov, 30, attended the premiere alongside the film’s star Leonardo DiCaprio and a host of industry figures and models, including Naomi Campbell and Sabrina Elba. DiCaprio, who plays the film’s central character Bob Ferguson, also walked the carpet and later joined the afterparty.
Penn and Nicov went public with their relationship in September 2024, when they were photographed kissing during a holiday in Madrid. Nicov, originally from Chișinău in Moldova and now based in France, has worked as a model and appeared on the Netflix series Emily in Paris. She speaks seven languages. Penn’s relationship with Nicov follows his 2021–2022 marriage to Leila George, which ended after 15 months.
In a widely published profile earlier this year with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, Penn described a desire for personal freedom. "I'm just free," he said, adding, "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." He also said he did not "sense I'll have my heart broken by romance again."
One Battle After Another is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and is an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland. The film, produced on a budget reportedly exceeding $130 million, marks Anderson’s first feature since 2021’s Liquorice Pizza. It follows DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson, a disheveled revolutionary living off-grid, as he reconnects with former allies to search for his daughter Willa. Penn appears in the film as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, an antagonist to DiCaprio’s character. Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor also appear in the cast.
DiCaprio praised Anderson’s work when speaking about the project, saying, "Any time that he asks, you work with PTA. This guy is like one of the great visionary filmmakers of my generation." Early critical response has been strong; Steven Spielberg was quoted recently calling the film "an insane movie" and praising its pace and relevance.
The production originally had been slated for release on Aug. 8 but its premiere was pushed to Sept. 26. At Tuesday’s London event, other attendees included models and actors who posed on the red carpet. Teyana Taylor, who appears in the film, walked the carpet with co-stars; Neelam Gill and Jodie Turner-Smith drew attention for their evening attire. Tobey Maguire, Benicio Del Toro and filmmaker Fisher Stevens were among the guests seen arriving.
The premiere and afterparty offered a glimpse of Hollywood’s continuing interest in festival-style premieres for high-budget, auteur-driven projects. For Penn, the appearance reinforced his ongoing profile in mainstream cinema while publicly confirming a relationship that began late last year. The film will be watched closely by critics and audiences when its theatrical release date arrives later this month.