Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn

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Robin Wright Penn has filed for divorce from Sean Penn after 11 years of marriage. Wright Penn filed the papers December 21, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple, who live in Northern California, are seeking joint custody of their two teenage children.

The pair met while Sean Penn was filming the 1990 Irish mob movie "State of Grace." At the time, he was considered one of the bad boys of Hollywood. He had married and divorced Madonna and occasionally tussled with photographers.

Robin Wright Penn once said she and her husband complemented each other. She seemed to provide a calming influence over him, and he helped her gain confidence.

"He helped me to believe that I could be strong and stand up for myself," she told the Los Angeles Times.

In 2004, Penn won a best actor Oscar for "Mystic River" for his role as an ex-hoodlum who reverts to his criminal ways as he seeks revenge for his daughter's death.

Penn directed this year's "Into the Wild," which is considered a front-runner for major awards, about a young idealist whose journey to Alaska ends in tragedy. He also starred as a death row inmate in 1995's "Dead Man Walking."

Wright Penn is best known for her role in "The Princess Bride" in 1987 and "Forrest Gump" in 1994 opposite Tom Hanks. Her other acting credits include "Beowulf" and "Breaking and Entering."

In other Sean Penn news, he will head the awards jury at the Cannes Film Festival this year, organizers announced January 3.

The festival's 61st edition is scheduled for May 14-25.

Penn said in a statement "that a new generation of filmmaking may have begun," citing "increasingly thoughtful, provocative, moving, and imaginative films by talented filmmakers" in what appeared to be "a rejuvenation of cinema building worldwide."

"The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicenter in the discovery of those new waves of filmmakers from all over the world. I very much look forward to participating in this year's festival as president of the jury," Penn said.

British director Stephen Frears, known for "The Queen," "High Fidelity" and "Dirty Pretty Things," led the jury last year that awarded the top prize to Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," a harrowing portrait of an illegal abortion in Communist-era Romania.

Penn won a best actor Oscar for "Mystic River" for his role as an ex-hoodlum who reverts to his criminal ways to exact revenge for his daughter's death.

He directed "Into the Wild," considered a front-runner for major awards this year, about a young idealist whose journey to Alaska ends in tragedy. He also starred as a death row inmate in "Dead Man Walking."

APRIL 10 UPDATE:

Sean Penn and his wife, Robin Wright Penn, have withdrawn their divorce petition.

A Marin County Superior Court commissioner has dismissed the divorce proceedings between the couple, who call the community of Ross, Califorinia, their home.

Neither attended April 8's hearing, and no comment has been released on the latest development.

The dismissal came a day after they attended an Eddie Vedder concert at the University of California at Berkeley, where the actor reportedly went on stage to dedicate a song to Wright Penn.

They filed for divorce in December 2007.

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