Actress Robin Wright Penn, the estranged and reportedly long-suffering wife of Sean Penn, showed up to the premiere of her new movie, “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” with two very noticeable changes: first, she’s once again dropped the “Penn” from her surname. And second, she’s traded in her familiar long blond hair for a darker shade. While Robin doesn’t elaborate on what prompted her to file for divorce this time, she has said in multiple interviews that this time, the separation from Sean Penn is for good, and she’s looking forward to starting over.

Robin Wright is doing just fine without Sean Penn. The actress has dropped Penn from her name and turned her blond hair brown. She wowed guests at the star-studded Cinema Society screening of her movie “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” on Sunday night. Showing off her slim figure in a Herve Leger dress, she was overheard saying, “This is all about new beginnings for me.” Wright was seen chatting with writer/director Rebecca Miller and husband Daniel Day-Lewis at the packed party at the Breslin attended by stars, including Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Billy Crudup. Her co-star Blake Lively, accompanied by boyfriend Penn Badgley, was also the talk of the evening in a plunging white jacket. But Lively admitted she still gets nervous seeing herself on screen. She told Page Six: “I loved the role, but it is hard to watch myself with so many people in the theater.”

[From Page Six]

In a recent “Entertainment Weekly” interview, Robin gets a little more specific about her new beginnings, and what this new role in “Pippa Lee” meant to her.

In recent months, the actress has overhauled just about every aspect of her life. In August, she filed for divorce from Sean Penn, shed his last name and put an end to the turbulent 20-year relationship, during which they broke up and reconciled at least three times. Shortley thereafter, she moved back to L.A. (with kids Dylan, 18, and Hopper, 16) after 12 years of raising a family in Marin County, near San Franscisco. Her new home, in Santa Monica, happens to be on the same eucalyptus-shaded street where she lived 25 years ago while shooting her breakthrough role in 1987’s The Princess Bride. “I didn’t want to raise my kids in this weird, sycophantic society,” Wright says, referring to Hollywood. “If you have celebrity parents, it’s not a good recipe for the kids, or anyone at any age. Look at what Brad and Angelina go through.”

The notoriously selective star has also thrown herself back into work. After stealing scenes from Russell Crowe in the political thriller State of Play, she won a chorus of critical shout-outs playing a chain-smoking flirt in last month’s New York, I Love You. Now she’s about to do double-duty in Robert Zemeckis’ 3-D animated holiday extravaganza Disney’s A Christmas Carol as both a 9-year-old moppet and Scrooge’s neglected fiance, Belle. Then comes her substantial and potentially career-changing role as the title character in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, out Nov. 27.

“I read the script, and I was like, ‘I’ll give my left tit to play this role,’ and that’s huge for me, because I don’t have any tits,” she says. “Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and the Kates all have gotten great roles, and were so good in them, and now I got one,” she smiles. “I finally got one.”

Wright’s face darkens when asked about her divorce from Penn. “I don’t want to talk about it in great detail because it will all be reflected back to him, and I’m not interested in sharing that with people,” she says. “I have no regrets. I have two wonderful kids, and when I’m asked ‘Why did you leave?’ I guess, it was just ‘I’m going over here now.’” She takes a breather to gaze out at the Pacific and adds her last two words on the subject: “New book.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

I’ve always thought Robin Wright was a fantastic actress who just needed the right role – maybe this one is it. She certainly seems a lot happier these days, even while Penn has taken up with a 25-year-old swimsuit model. As for the hair color change, I’m thinking it might be for a role or something. It actually makes her look a bit younger than the blond but I don’t think it’s a long-term thing. I’m rooting for her, and for her career.