Are they or aren't they?

28 July 2015 - 02:00 By Aarti J Narsee and Nashira Davids

There is no doubt the bad-boy actor turned director is in town. The unmistakable Sean Penn arrived yesterday morning at the Oude Molen Eco Village in Cape Town for work. But whether the blonde woman spotted on the set of The Last Face was his ex-girlfriend and star of his film Charlize Theron is uncertain.She looked like her and had a tattoo on her ankle, like Theron.She lapped up the sun and a hot coffee while make-up was applied to her foot.Crew say they seldom see Theron and Penn together on set, except when director Penn is rolling the cameras with the Hollywood star.One of the security officials said Penn was a very "closed-off man".Almost exactly a year ago, Penn and Theron could not keep their hands off each other when they stayed at the Mount Nelson Hotel while Penn began shooting the film. But the couple reportedly called off their engagement this year after 18 months of dating.In The Last Face Theron plays a doctor doing humanitarian relief work in Africa.She falls in love with another doctor - played by Hollywood heart-throb Javier Bardem - amid violent political conflicts.The set created at the eco village features huge rocks, trees and a Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) tent.Yesterday, women who work at a factory close by sat watching the crew during their lunch break. They had nothing to say other than "they are shooting some Hollywood movie".The UK's Mail Online reported that Penn had issued an "urgent casting call" for a black woman in the late stages of pregnancy.The woman's baby would be on set for as many as two days at a rate of R1500 a day.The mother would "obviously" be allowed on set.Cape Film Commission CEO Denis Lillie could not comment on the casting call, but said: "We have been previously approached to assist with the filming of a newborn baby. In our experience it requires the permission of parents and a maternity ward, hospital chief and provincial [department of] health".Additional reporting by Mike Behr..

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