Actor Sean Penn says being married to a star like Madonna is a strain, but that recent reports the couple was close to divorce were created by the press. Penn discussed his marriage in a story published in Sunday's Chicago Tribune, which said it was the first interview with filmdom's bad boy since he was jailed for 32 days after striking a movie extra. Penn, 27, vowed to ``refocus'' himself to avoid outbursts. He said reports of his marital problems with Madonna, 29, stem from her fans' possessiveness of her and their view of him as less-than-ideal marriage material. ``She belonged to them, to the public,'' Penn said. ``And if anybody took her, I think they thought it should have been someone more acceptable, like Donald Trump.'' Madonna filed divorce papers in Santa Monica, Calif., on Dec. 4, citing irreconcilable differences. Two weeks later, she asked to withdraw the petition and the court granted the request the same day, court records show. No reason was given in the court papers for her change of heart. But Penn said the divorce story ``was more People magazine than reality. My attitude with the press right now is that I hope they've had their share of me. They've been very busy trying to find or make dirt. I'd like to get back to acting.''
