Sean Penn says it would be currently impossible for him to play the part of a gay man, as he did in the 2008 film Milk, blaming a “timid and artless” current creative climate.

Penn was speaking to the New York Times about his earlier career, and responded to a question asking him if he would now be able to play Harvey Milk, the role for which Penn won a best actor Oscar. Saying that Milk “was the last time I had a good time [on a film set]”, Penn added: “It could not happen in a time like this. It’s a time of tremendous overreach. It’s a timid and artless policy toward the human imagination.”

Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, Milk was a biopic of the first out gay politician to win office in California. After serving for almost 11 months as city supervisor in San Francisco, Milk was shot dead, along with San Francisco mayor George Moscone, by former political rival Dan White.

Penn also reflected on his turbulent relationship with Madonna, to whom he was married between 1985 and 1989, describing one incident involving a Swat team after Madonna allegedly told police there were guns inside the house. Penn said: “I said: ‘I’m not coming out. I’m going to finish my breakfast.’ The next thing I knew, windows were being broken all around the house and they came in … They had me in handcuffs.”

Saying Madonna is “someone I love”, Penn said it was thanks to her that he won a defamation case against director Lee Daniels in 2015, over the latter’s claim of Penn’s domestic abuse against her. Madonna gave an affidavit saying no physical assaults had taken place. “Not only did we win the case,” Penn said, “but Daniels wrote a public letter and he had to contribute to [humanitarian organisation] CORE.”