Rockin' Robin

SPOTLIGHT

'robin's got the greatest combination of skill and soul—with a beautiful face," says Sean Penn. "That's pretty cinematic stuff_ She's a special woman and a great mother."

Moviegoers first fell in love with Robin Wright as Buttercup in The Princess Bride, but it is Penn, after fathering her two children and then suffering through a heartbreaking split-up, who has finally captured her real-life heart. What appeared to be unfolding as the grimmest of fairy tales-the ups and downs of their stormy relationship used as tabloid fodder, Penn's absence from this year's Oscars ceremony because he was accompanying her to the hospital in a medical emergency—has ended happily ever after with their recent Malibu wedding. Long awaited, this is a royal union by Hollywood standards, one that has the blessing of the town's highest, loosely collared priests; after the ceremony the two were toasted by Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Warren Beatty.

"She's like another Grace Kelly," claims Rob Reiner, who directed her in The Princess Bride. Forrest Gump novelist Winston Groom has another take. "When I saw Robin walking out on the screen, that was Jenny. She has that tough innocence." Such innocence was on display in State of Grace with Penn and The Playboys with Aidan Quinn. Next up is the title character in Moll Flanders. "When talking to Robin, we knew Moll was going to be exploring the maze of life and going into some dark ends," says Pen Densham, the film's writer and director. "Finally it's about a mother's love."

And what does Wright wish for her children, daughter Dylan, five, and son Hopper, two? "I want them to know contentment. Love. Hope. All the things you want for yourself, too, as an adult.... I always wanted kids. Couldn't wait. And I thought I wanted only boys, but when I had that little girl ... well ... she's a pistol, man."

KEVIN SESSUMS

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