Robin Wright Calls America a “s***show,” Finds a “Liberating” Fresh Start in England

I am Riley Carter, and Robin Wright just left the United States for a low-key life on the English coast, calling the move “liberating” and America a “s***show” in a new interview.

Another day, another headline that sounds like a plot twist from House of Cards, except this one is real life. Wright, 59, confirmed she has swapped California sprawl for British seaside calm, telling The Times of London that quitting the search for the next best thing felt freeing. She is renting a home by the water with her boyfriend, architect Henry Smith, and the vibe is decidedly less chaos, more cup of tea.

Here is the tea, straight from Wright. “It’s liberating to be done. Be done with searching, looking and getting 60% of what you wanted,” she said, explaining why she peaced out of the States. The actress praised the slower, kinder pace she has found in England, contrasting it with what she sees as America’s relentless grind. “They’re living,” she said of her new neighbors. “They’re not in the car in traffic, panicked on a phone call, eating a sandwich. That’s most of America. Everything’s rush, competition and speed.” The comments were published by The Times, with the interview further highlighted by the New York Post, so yes, receipts are in order.

Wright did not gloss over why she felt done with California life either. She described the lifestyle she left behind as a race to build bigger and louder, while she wanted something quieter and more grounded. “Everyone’s building a huge house, and I’m just done with all that,” she said. “I love the quiet. And I’ve met my person. Finally.” The person is Smith, and their meet-cute sounds like a scene from The Princess Bride with a pint glass and a pub dog.

According to Wright, she was sitting in a pub when she asked a stranger if she could feed his dog. The man pointed to Smith, standing at the bar at 6 feet 2, and in strolled the moment. Smith walked over, put down his drink, grabbed her shoulders, and said, “Who the f*** are you?” Wright volleyed right back with the same line. That was the spark. She calls him “a sweetheart” and “a good, decent adult,” adding that it is “so relaxing” to be seen and loved for who she is. As she heads into 60, she says she wants to travel, see the world, and yes, grow old with someone who gets it.

Wright’s personal history is well documented, and she does not shy away from it. She was married to Sean Penn from 1996 to 2010, and they share two children, Dylan, 34, and Hopper, 32. She later married fashion executive Clement Giraudet in 2018 and filed for divorce in 2022. Before all of that came a short-lived 1980s marriage to her Santa Barbara co-star Dane Witherspoon. The resume is stacked, but the new chapter feels intentionally pared back.

In a candid turn, Wright also owned up to parenting regrets. She said she “wasn’t hard enough” on her kids when they were growing up. Penn, she noted, was stricter but often away for work. “He’d come back and be the policeman and then he’d leave me with the residue,” she said. “Then I would soften the blow. We were both extremes. They didn’t get that grey area in the middle, which is stern, and that is what they needed.” It is the kind of reflective honesty that tends to surface when someone redraws the map of their life and chooses a calmer postcode.

Career-wise, Wright remains an icon of both prestige TV and classic films, from House of Cards to Forrest Gump to The Princess Bride. But this era is not about a red carpet sprint. It is about choosing headspace over headlines. In England, she says she feels a “freedom of self,” the kind that comes with fewer sirens and more sea breeze. After years of Hollywood pace and public scrutiny, she sounds content to be a person first and a celebrity second.

So yes, the quote is blunt and the move is bold, but the math checks out. She told The Times of London what she felt, the New York Post amplified it, and the rest is an expat soft launch with a romantic subplot. Will the States lure her back for a project, or will seaside life win long term? We will see. For now, Wright has chosen less rush, more living. And honestly, same.

Okay cool, so like, yeah, that happened.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and The Times of London, New York Post
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