Marlon Brando pictured with his children, Cheyenne and Teihotu Brando, 1991.

Marlon Brando and Sean Penn. Both great actors, each arguably the greatest of his generation. But the similarities only begin there. With so much in common, it’s almost impossible to resist calling Sean Penn our Marlon Brando.
The first things one sees are the physical similarities. Both men shared an almost feline posture in youth; slender, forward-leaning with broad but slopping shoulders. Like big gatos stalking through tall grass, they moved with heads low and progressivo, para a frente and with hulking grace. You see it in Brando’s turn as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Names Desire as he prowls the...