When William's in a state, Sean acts (4)

I believe the answer is:

penn

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'state sean acts' is the definition.
'penn' can be an answer for 'state' (abbreviation for Pennsylvania). I'm not certain of the 'sean acts' bit.

I don't understand the rest of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for penn that I've seen before include "Early Quaker leader" , "US state (abbrev.)" , "Milk actor" , "founder of colony" , "Colonising Quaker" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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