From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, it's The Treatment.

It's the Treatment.

It's the Treatment.

I'm Elvis Mitchell.

The last time my guest was here, he was here smoking.

I actually did that at the Peninsula Hotel where you were smoking. I see your cigarettes and nearby.

He's a two-time Academy Award winner. I still think of him as being a comedic actor, Sean Penn. His news documentary for Paramount Plus is superpower.

First of all, I can't thank you for being here. It's great to have you here as always.

Great to be here.

And it's a movie that really demands your attention because you do so many interesting things in it.

For one, you never change the timbre of your voice for the voiceover.

It's really very matter of fact.

You don't make anything dramatic.

You don't do any dramatic readings of that stuff at all. I want to ask you about that choice because it's a

very specific and deliberate choice, isn't that? Yeah, it is a deliberate choice. It's a feeling

of not wanting to get in the way of this bigger story. Obviously, you know, part of the approach was

going to sort of offer people to jump in the backpack and go on the trip

and to sort of personalize what the experience was in a way that would allow,

that would create the familiarity, not an academic perspective,

but just kind of learn, watch, listen, and reflect as you go. So the voiceover, I found that the best time

in place for me, and it's one of the kind of crazy advantages of new technologies, was that

I recorded it all. Had a great sound mixer. Craig Mann did a first best and then John Ross.

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