Sean Penn
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). 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Variety & CNN Actors on Actors as Self
- 2025 · Animals in War as
- 2021 · Flag Day as John Vogel
- 2019 · The Professor and the Madman as Dr. William Chester Minor
- 2015 · Beaver Trilogy Part IV as Himself (archive footage)
- 2014 · Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey as Self
- 2014 · The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles as Self
- 2012 · Americans as Commie
- 2011 · Woody Allen: A Documentary as Self
- 2011 · This Must Be the Place as Cheyenne
- 2009 · The People Speak as Self
- 2008 · What Just Happened as Sean Penn
- 2008 · Witch Hunt as Himself (Narrator)
- 2007 · Brando as Self
- 2006 · Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride as Self
- 2004 · Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004 · The Assassination of Richard Nixon as Samuel Bicke
- 2003 · Mystic River: From Page to Screen as Self
- 2003 · Pauly Shore Is Dead as Sean Penn
- 2003 · It's All About Love as Marciello
- 2002 · Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self
- 2001 · The Weight of Water as Thomas Janes
- 2000 · A Constant Forge as Self
- 2000 · Up at the Villa as Rowley Flint
- 1999 · Sweet and Lowdown as Emmet Ray
- 1998 · Hurlyburly as Eddie
- 1997 · Loved as Man on the Hill (Michael)
- 1997 · She's So Lovely as Eddie Quinn
- 1993 · The Last Party as Self
- 1992 · Cruise Control as
- 1988 · Judgment in Berlin as Guenther X
- 1987 · Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam as (voice)
- 1986 · Shanghai Surprise as Glendon Wasey
- 1985 · The Falcon and the Snowman as Daulton Lee
- 1984 · Racing with the Moon as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
- 1984 · Crackers as Dillard
- 1981 · Hellinger's Law as Bit Part (uncredited)
- Future · Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame as Himself
- 2025 · In Thanks We Trust as Self
- 2025 · One Battle After Another as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- 2025 · aka Charlie Sheen as Self
- 2025 · Everybody's Live with John Mulaney as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
- 2024 · Becoming Madonna as Self (archive footage)
- 2024 · Bruce Springsteen – The America whisperer as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
- 2024 · Daddio as Clark
- 2024 · BRATS as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2024 · Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique as Self
- 2024 · Asphalt City as Gene Rutkovsky
- 2023 · Gonzo Girl as
- 2023 · Superpower as Self
- 2022 · Gaslit as John Mitchell
- 2021 · Licorice Pizza as Jack Holden
- 2020 · Citizen Penn as Himself
- 2020 · Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read as Pizza Guy
- 2019 · Lights Out with David Spade as Self
- 2018 · The First as Tom Haggerty
- 2018 · Firing Line with Margaret Hoover as
- 2017 · Sound of Sun as Man
- 2017 · Mad Hannans as
- 2016 · The Angry Birds Movie as Terence (voice)
- 2016 · El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle as Self
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · The Gunman as Jim Terrier
- 2015 · Sweet Micky for President as Self
- 2014 · Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story as Himself
- 2014 · The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self - Guest
- 2013 · The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Sean O'Connell
- 2013 · The Human Experiment as Narrator
- 2013 · Gangster Squad as Mickey Cohen
- 2012 · Haiti Untold as
- 2011 · The Tree of Life as Jack
- 2011 · Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune as Self
- 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 · VH1 Rock Honors: The Who as Self
- 2008 · Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis as Self
- 2007 · War Made Easy as Self - Narrator (Voice)
- 2007 · Brando: The Documentary as Self
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · All the King's Men as Willie Stark
- 2006 · When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts as Self
- 2006 · VH1 Rock Honors as
- 2005 · Iconoclasts as Self
- 2005 · The Reichen Show as Self
- 2005 · The Interpreter as Tobin Keller
- 2004 · The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing as Self
- 2004 · Mystic River: Beneath the Surface as Self
- 2004 · Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments as Self
- 2004 · 21 Grams: In Fragments as Self
- 2003 · Viva La Bam as
- 2003 · Mystic River as Jimmy Markum
- 2003 · Two and a Half Men as Sean Penn
- 2003 · 21 Grams as Paul Rivers
- 2003 · Inside Björk as Self
- 2003 · Celebrities Uncensored as Self
- 2003 · Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- 2003 · Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
- 2003 · Bukowski: Born Into This as Self
- 2003 · This So-Called Disaster as Ray
- 2002 · Searching for Debra Winger as Self (uncredited)
- 2002 · Dogtown and Z-Boys as Narrator
- 2001 · I Am Sam as Sam Dawson
- 2000 · Curb Your Enthusiasm as Sean Penn
- 2000 · Before Night Falls as Cuco Sanchez
- 2000 · Beaver Trilogy as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
- 1999 · Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High as
- 1999 · The Early Show as Self
- 1999 · Being John Malkovich as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- 1999 · Where Are They Now? as Self
- 1999 · Family Guy as Sean Penn (voice)
- 1998 · The Thin Red Line as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
- 1997 · Hugo Pool as Strange Hitchhiker
- 1997 · U Turn as Bobby Cooper
- 1997 · The Game as Conrad Van Orton
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1995 · Dead Man Walking as Matthew Poncelet
- 1994 · Friends as Eric
- 1994 · Inside the Actors Studio as Self
- 1993 · Carlito's Way as David Kleinfeld
- 1993 · Madonna: The Name of the Game as Self
- 1992 · The Larry Sanders Show as Sean Penn
- 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 · Colors as Danny McGavin
- 1986 · At Close Range as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
- 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
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
- 1974 · Little House on the Prairie as Boy (uncredited)
- 1965 · aspekte as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee