Entertainment Movies Robin Wright Says She's Not Back with Ex Sean Penn but 'We're Always Gonna Be a Family' A source told PEOPLE in January that Robin Wright and Sean Penn were not back together after recent public sightings By Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle is an editorial assistant on the Movies team at PEOPLE. Tommy joined PEOPLE in 2022. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 15, 2023 05:12PM EST Sean Penn; Robin Wright. Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images; Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Robin Wright says being friends with ex-husband Sean Penn over a decade after their divorce is "a gift." While speaking with E! News this week, Wright, 56, addressed recent rumblings about where things stand with Penn, 62, after the pair were spotted spending time together twice in Los Angeles last month. "To be friends with the father of your children… I mean, it's a gift, because we know divorce with children is one of the most difficult things in life," the actress said. "When you become estranged and become friends again … we were going to an event for our children," she explained of her recent public appearances with Penn, whom she was married to from 1996 to 2010. Wright went on to say that she and Penn are "always going to be a unit that way." "We're always gonna be family, whether we're together or apart, you know?" she added. "And I think that's beautiful, and I wish that for everybody." Exes Sean Penn and Robin Wright Seen in Los Angeles Spending More Time Together Robin Wright and Sean Penn circa 1990. Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Before January's sightings, Wright and Penn were last photographed in 2017 heading to New York's John F. Kennedy airport. An insider told PEOPLE last month that while the exes "are both single right now and get along great," they are not back together as a couple. "Sean has always said that Robin is the love of his life," the source said. "He regrets many things that happened during their marriage. He really enjoys spending time with her now." Penn and Wright both recently ended relationships last year, with Penn finalizing his divorce from Leila George in April and Wright filing for divorce from Clément Giraudet in September after four years together. The pair began dating in 1989 after Penn's divorce from Madonna; they had dated on and off for years before their marriage. Penn and Wright have two kids: son Hopper Penn, 29, and daughter Dylan Penn, 31. In 2014, Wright told Britain's Telegraph that her divorce from Penn after a 20-year relationship was "devastating." "Divorce in and of itself, and with children, is devastating. Worse than that," she said at the time. "One of the reasons why we got back together and broke up so much was trying to keep the family together. If you've got kids, it's a family, and you try again, and you try again." "We did that for a long time," she added.