Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. He has starred in numerous action-adventures, thrillers, and dramatic feature films and is well-known for his role as Blade in the Blade trilogy. Snipes formed a production company titled Amen-Ra Films in 1991 and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television. Snipes has been training in martial arts since age twelve, earning a high ranking 5th dan black belt in Shotokan Karate and 2nd dan black belt in Hapkido. He has also trained as a student of Capoeira under Mestre Jelon Vieira and in a number of other disciplines including various styles of kung fu. At age 23, Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition. He made his film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats. Later that year, he appeared on the trendy 1980's TV show Miami Vice as a drug-dealing pimp in the episode 'Streetwise' (first aired December 5, 1986). In 1987, he appeared as Michael Jackson's nemesis in the Martin Scorsese-directed music video "Bad" (he is seen in only the long version of the video) and the feature film Streets of Gold. That same year, Snipes was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Snipes' performance in the music video "Bad" caught the eye of director Spike Lee. Snipes turned down a small role in Lee's Do the Right Thing for the larger part of Willie Mays Hayes in Major League, beginning a succession of box-office hits for Snipes. Lee would later cast Snipes as the jazz saxophonist Shadow Henderson in Mo' Better Blues and as the lead in the interracial romantic drama Jungle Fever. Another important role for Snipes was the powerful drug lord Nino Brown in New Jack City, which was written specifically for him by Barry Michael Cooper. Another film in which his character was involved in drugs was the somber movie Sugar Hill. Although Snipes is more known for his roles in action films like Passenger 57, Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone), Money Train, U.S. Marshals (a sequel of The Fugitive) and Rising Sun (with Sean Connery), he has also had success in comedies like White Men Can't Jump, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar where he played a drag queen together with Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo. Snipes has also been critically acclaimed for his roles in dramas like The Waterdance and Disappearing Acts. Snipes has been married twice; first, to April Snipes from 1985-1990 with whom he has a son, Jelani Asar Snipes, born in 1988. Jelani had a cameo role in Snipes' 1990 film Mo' Better Blues. In 2003, Snipes wed painter Nakyung 'Nikki' Park, who is the mother of his four youngest children: son Akhenaten Kihwa-T Snipes; daughter Iset Jua-T Snipes (born July 31, 2001); son Alaafia Jehu-T Snipes (born May 26, 2004); and son Alimayu Moa-T Snipes (born March 26, 2007). Snipes spends a lot of time in Park's home country of South Korea, which he calls his "second home."
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Where’s Usher? as Leslie Snipes
- 2023 · Back on the Strip as Luther 'Mr. Big'
- 2023 · Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur as Maris Morlak (voice)
- 2021 · True Story as Carlton
- 2021 · Coming 2 America as General Izzi
- 2020 · Cut Throat City as Lawrence
- 2019 · Dolemite Is My Name as D’Urville Martin
- 2019 · What We Do in the Shadows as Wesley
- 2018 · Basketball: A Love Story as Self (archive footage)
- 2017 · Armed Response as Isaac
- 2017 · The Recall as The Hunter
- 2015 · Chi-Raq as Sean 'Cyclops' Andrews
- 2015 · The Player as Mr. Johnson
- 2014 · The Making of The Expendables 3 as Self
- 2014 · The Expendables 3 as Doc
- 2012 · Gallowwalkers as Aman
- 2011 · Game of Death as Agent Marcus
- 2010 · 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift as archival footage
- 2010 · Brooklyn's Finest as Casanova 'Caz' Phillips
- 2008 · The Art of War II: Betrayal as Neil Shaw
- 2007 · Hard Luck as Lucky
- 2007 · The Contractor as James Dial
- 2006 · The Detonator as Sonni Griffith
- 2005 · The Marksman as Painter
- 2005 · Nightstalkers, Daywalkers, and Familiars: Inside the World of 'Blade Trinity' as Self
- 2005 · 7 Seconds as Jack Tuliver
- 2005 · Chaos as Lorenz / Jason York
- 2004 · Blade: Trinity as Eric Brooks / Blade
- 2004 · Unstoppable as Dean Cage
- 2002 · Undisputed as Monroe Hutchen
- 2002 · Zig Zag as Dave Fletcher
- 2002 · Blade II as Eric Brooks / Blade
- 2002 · Liberty Stands Still as Joe
- 2001 · The Bernie Mac Show as Duke
- 2000 · Disappearing Acts as Franklin Swift
- 2000 · The Art of War as Neil Shaw
- 1999 · Play It to the Bone as Wesley Snipes (Ringside Fan)
- 1999 · Futuresport as Obike Fixx
- 1998 · Down in the Delta as Will Sinclair
- 1998 · Vivement dimanche as Self
- 1998 · Blade as Eric Brooks / Blade
- 1998 · Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes as Self
- 1998 · Jackie Chan: My Story as Self
- 1998 · U.S. Marshals as Mark Sheridan
- 1997 · One Night Stand as Max Carlyle
- 1997 · The View as Self - Guest
- 1997 · Murder at 1600 as Detective Harlan Regis
- 1996 · John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk as Narrator
- 1996 · Jackie Chan - From Stuntman to Superstar as Self
- 1996 · The Fan as Bobby Rayburn
- 1996 · America's Dream as George Du Vaul (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")
- 1995 · Waiting to Exhale as James Wheeler (uncredited)
- 1995 · Money Train as John
- 1995 · To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar as Noxeema Jackson
- 1995 · Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as The Pied Piper (voice)
- 1994 · Drop Zone as Pete Nessip
- 1994 · Sugar Hill as Romello Skuggs
- 1993 · Demolition Man as Simon Phoenix
- 1993 · Hardwood Dreams as Narrator
- 1993 · Rising Sun as Lt. Webster Smith
- 1993 · Boiling Point as Jimmy Mercer
- 1992 · Passenger 57 as John Cutter
- 1992 · HBO First Look as
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1992 · The Waterdance as Raymond Hill
- 1992 · White Men Can't Jump as Sidney Deane
- 1991 · Sous les marches du palais as Himself
- 1991 · Jungle Fever as Flipper Purify
- 1991 · New Jack City as Nino Brown
- 1990 · Mo' Better Blues as Shadow Henderson (Sax)
- 1990 · King of New York as Thomas Flanigan
- 1990 · H.E.L.P. as Off. Lou Barton
- 1989 · Major League as Willie Mays Hayes
- 1987 · Bad as Mini Max
- 1987 · The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Hood
- 1987 · Critical Condition as Ambulance Driver
- 1986 · Wildcats as Trumaine
- Future · Outbreak Z as
- 1986 · Streets of Gold as Roland Jenkins
- 1984 · Miami Vice as Silk
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self