Sean Penn
91 movies · 9 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Aug 17, 1960 (age 66)
- Place of birth
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Also known as
- Sean Justin Penn
Biography
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. His accolades include three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for three British Academy Film Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Award. He received the Honorary César in 2015 and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2022.
Penn made his feature film debut in the drama Taps (1981), before taking roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Bad Boys (1983), and At Close Range (1986). He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice, for playing a grieving father in Mystic River (2003) and the gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk (2008). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the ruthless military officer Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw in One Battle After Another (2025). He was Oscar-nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001). He also acted in Casualties of War (1989), State of Grace (1990), Carlito's Way (1993), The Game(1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Hurlyburly (1998), 21 Grams (2003), Fair Game (2010), The Tree of Life (2011), Licorice Pizza (2021) and Daddio (2023).
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Penn made his directorial film debut with the crime drama The Indian Runner (1991), followed by The Crossing Guard (1995), The Pledge (2001), and Into the Wild (2007). On stage, he acted in the Broadway plays Heartland (1981) and Slab Boys (1983). On television, he portrayed an astronaut in the Hulu drama series The First (2018) and John N. Mitchell in the Starz political thriller miniseries Gaslit (2022).
Penn has also engaged in political and social activism, including his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, his contact with the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, his humanitarian work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amidst the Russian-Ukrainian war.
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Known for
Sean Penn: movies and TV shows
Acting (82)
- Upcoming
- 2025
- 2025 One Battle After Another
as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- 2024 Daddio
as Clark
- 2024 Asphalt City
as Gene Rutkovsky
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021 Licorice Pizza
as Jack Holden
- 2021 Flag Day
as John Vogel
- 2020 Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
as Pizza Guy
- 2019 The Professor and the Madman
as Dr. William Chester Minor
- 2018
- 2017 Sound of Sun
as Man
- 2017
- 2016 The Angry Birds Movie
as Terence (voice)
- 2015 The Human Experiment
as Narrator
- 2015 The Gunman
as Jim Terrier
- 2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
as Sean O'Connell
- 2013 Gangster Squad
as Mickey Cohen
- 2012 Americans
as Commie
- 2012
- 2011 This Must Be the Place
as Cheyenne
- 2011 The Tree of Life
as Jack
- 2010 I'm Still Here
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- 2010 Fair Game
as Joseph Wilson
- 2009 Deflating the Elephant
as Narrator
- 2008 Milk
as Harvey Milk
- 2008 What Just Happened
as Sean Penn
- 2007 War Made Easy
as Narrator (Voice)
- 2006 All the King's Men
as Willie Stark
- 2005 The Interpreter
as Tobin Keller
- 2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon
as Samuel Bicke
- 2003 21 Grams
as Paul Rivers
- 2003 Mystic River
as Jimmy Markum
- 2003
- 2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead
as Sean Penn
- 2003 It's All About Love
as Marciello
- 2003 This So-Called Disaster
as Ray
- 2002 Dogtown and Z-Boys
as Narrator
- 2001 I Am Sam
as Sam Dawson
- 2001 The Weight of Water
as Thomas Janes
- 2000
- 2000 Before Night Falls
as Cuco Sanchez
- 2000 Beaver Trilogy
as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
- 2000 Up at the Villa
as Rowley Flint
- 1999
- 1999 Sweet and Lowdown
as Emmet Ray
- 1999 Being John Malkovich
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- 1999
- 1998 Hurlyburly
as Eddie
- 1998 The Thin Red Line
as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
- 1997 Hugo Pool
as Strange Hitchhiker
- 1997 Loved
as Man on the Hill (Michael)
- 1997 U Turn
as Bobby Cooper
- 1997 The Game
as Conrad Van Orton
- 1997 She's So Lovely
as Eddie Quinn
- 1995 Dead Man Walking
as Matthew Poncelet
- 1994
- 1993 Carlito's Way
as David Kleinfeld
- 1992
- 1992
- 1990 State of Grace
as Terry
- 1990 Cool Blue
as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
- 1989 Casualties of War
as Sgt. Tony Meserve
- 1989 We're No Angels
as Jim
- 1988 Judgment in Berlin
as Guenther X
- 1988 Colors
as Danny McGavin
- 1987 Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
as (voice)
- 1986 Shanghai Surprise
as Glendon Wasey
- 1986 At Close Range
as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
- 1985 The Falcon and the Snowman
as Daulton Lee
- 1984 Racing with the Moon
as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
- 1984 Crackers
as Dillard
- 1983 Risky Business
as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
- 1983 Summerspell
as Buddy
- 1983 Bad Boys
as Mick O'Brien
- 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
as Jeff Spicoli
- 1981 Taps
as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
- 1981 The Beaver Kid 2
as Groovin' Larry
- 1981 The Killing of Randy Webster
as Don Fremont
- 1981 Hellinger's Law
as Bit Part (uncredited)
- 1974
Behind the camera (26)
- Upcoming Candles
Set Decoration
- Upcoming Untitled Jamal Khashoggi Project
Director, Producer
- Upcoming Untitled Sean Penn Film
Director
- Upcoming The Gun on Second Street
Executive Producer
- Upcoming Untitled Sean Penn Film
Director, Writer, Producer
- 2026 Black Sunflowers
Executive Producer
- 2025 Words of War
Executive Producer
- 2025 Manas
Executive Producer
- 2024 September 5
Producer
- 2024 Asphalt City
Producer
- 2023
- 2023 Superpower
Director
- 2021 Flag Day
Director, Producer
- 2021 kid 90
Executive Producer
- 2017 The Last Face
Director
- 2015 The Human Experiment
Executive Producer
- 2015 The Gunman
Screenplay, Producer
- 2012 Americans
Story
- 2009 Where the Wild Things Are
Thanks
- 2007 Into the Wild
Director, Screenplay, Producer
- 2002 September 11
Director, Writer
- 2001 The Pledge
Director, Producer
- 1997 Loved
Producer
- 1997 She's So Lovely
Executive Producer
- 1995 The Crossing Guard
Director, Writer, Producer
- 1991 The Indian Runner
Director, Screenplay
Talk shows and appearances (66)
- 2026
- 2026
- 2026
- 2025 Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
1 episode
- 2025
- 2025 aka Charlie Sheen
2 episodes
- 2025 Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
1 episode
- 2024
- 2024
- 2024
- 2024
- 2021
- 2020
- 2020
- 2019 Lights Out with David Spade
1 episode
- 2018 Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
1 episode
- 2016
- 2015 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
1 episode
- 2015
- 2015
- 2014
- 2014
- 2014 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
1 episode
- 2014
- 2011
- 2011
- 2009
- 2008
- 2008
- 2008 Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
1 episode
- 2007
- 2007 Brando: The Documentary
2 episodes
- 2007 The Graham Norton Show
1 episode
- 2006
- 2006
- 2006 VH1 Rock Honors
1 episode
- 2005 Iconoclasts
1 episode
- 2005 The Reichen Show
1 episode
- 2004
- 2004
- 2004
- 2004
- 2004
- 2003
- 2003 Viva La Bam
1 episode
- 2003
- 2003 Celebrities Uncensored
2 episodes
- 2003 Real Time with Bill Maher
4 episodes
- 2003
- 2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live!
6 episodes
- 2003
- 2002
- 2002
- 2000
- 1999 The Early Show
1 episode
- 1999 Where Are They Now?
1 episode
- 1997 The View
1 episode
- 1994
- 1994 Inside the Actors Studio
1 episode
- 1993
- 1993
- 1990 The Word
2 episodes
- 1975 Saturday Night Live
2 episodes
- 1965 aspekte
1 episode
- 1953 The Oscars
2 episodes
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards
2 episodes