Wesley Snipes
Born: 1962-07-31 in Orlando, Florida, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. Snipes has made films in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, though he is best known for his action films. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work in The Waterdance (1992) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film One Night Stand (1997). Born in Florida, Snipes had notable parts in the comedy film Major League (1989), the drama Mo' Better Blues (1990), and the crime drama King of New York (1990) before gaining prominence by playing a drug lord in the crime drama New Jack City (1991). He subsequently received more attention for the drama film Jungle Fever (1991), the sports comedy White Men Can't Jump (1992), and the action film Passenger 57 (1992). He has since starred in various genres, such as the comedy film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), the thriller The Fan (1996), and the drama film Down in the Delta (1998), but mostly established himself as an action star, portraying both heroes and villains in films such as Demolition Man (1993), Rising Sun (1993), Money Train (1995), and U.S. Marshals (1998). Also in 1998, he was cast as Eric Brooks/BBlade in the superhero film Blade, based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, a role he went on to reprise in Blade II (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Snipes had smaller roles during the 2000s and moved to direct-to-video action films before returning to the theatrical release with films such as Brooklyn's Finest (2009) and The Expendables 3 (2014). His television work includes multiple episodes in the drama series H.E.L.P. (1990), the action thriller crime drama series The Player (2015), and the drama limited series True Story (2021), as well as the romantic drama film Disappearing Acts (2000). He formed a production company, 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 the age of 12, earning a 5thdan black belt in Shotokan karate and a 2nddan black belt in Hapkido. He is credited with helping popularise martial arts in Hollywood and bringing martial arts to mainstream audiences, as well as contributing to the representation of Black actors in action roles, breaking stereotypes. In 2017, Snipes made his debut as a novelist with the urban fantasy supernatural adventure Talon of God. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wesley Snipes, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2024
- Deadpool & Wolverine as Blade
- Where’s Usher? as Leslie Snipes
- Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Deadpool & Wolverine as Self - Blade
2023
- Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur as Morlak (voice)
- Back on the Strip as Luther 'Mr. Big'
2021
- Coming 2 America as General Izzi
- True Story as Carlton
2020
- Cut Throat City as Lawrence
2019
- What We Do in the Shadows as Wesley
- Dolemite Is My Name as D’Urville Martin
2018
- Basketball: A Love Story as Self (archive footage)
2017
- The Recall as The Hunter
- Armed Response as Isaac
2016
- Forensic Justice as Self (archive footage)
2015
- The Player as Mr. Johnson
- Chi-Raq as Sean 'Cyclops' Andrews
2014
- The Expendables 3 as Doc
- The Making of The Expendables 3 as Self
2012
- Gallowwalkers as Aman
2011
- Game of Death as Agent Marcus
2010
- Brooklyn's Finest as Casanova 'Caz' Phillips
- 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift as (archive footage)
2008
- The Art of War II: Betrayal as Neil Shaw
2007
- The Contractor as James Dial
2006
- The Detonator as Sonni Griffith
- Hard Luck as Lucky
2005
- Chaos as Lorenz / Jason York
- 7 Seconds as Jack Tuliver
- The Marksman as Painter
- Nightstalkers, Daywalkers, and Familiars: Inside the World of 'Blade: Trinity' as Self
2004
- Blade: Trinity as Eric Brooks / Blade
- Unstoppable as Dean Cage
2002
- Undisputed as Monroe Hutchen
- Blade II as Blade
- Zig Zag as Dave Fletcher
- Liberty Stands Still as Joe
- The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' as Self
2001
- The Bernie Mac Show as Duke
2000
- Disappearing Acts as Franklin Swift
- The Art of War as Neil Shaw
1999
- Futuresport as Obike Fixx
- Play It to the Bone as Wesley Snipes (Ringside Fan)
1998
- Vivement dimanche as Self
- Blade as Blade
- U.S. Marshals as Sheridan
- Jackie Chan: My Story ... (Thanks)
- The Big Hit ... (Producer)
- Down in the Delta as Will Sinclair
- Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes as Self
1997
- The View as Self - Guest
- One Night Stand as Max Carlyle
- Murder at 1600 as Detective Harlan Regis
1996
- The Fan as Bobby Rayburn
- America's Dream as George Du Vaul (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")
- Jackie Chan - From Stuntman to Superstar as Self
- John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk as Narrator
1995
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as The Pied Piper (voice)
- Money Train as John
- Waiting to Exhale as James Wheeler (uncredited)
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar as Noxeema Jackson
1994
- Sugar Hill as Romello Skuggs
- Drop Zone as Pete Nessip
1993
- Demolition Man as Simon Phoenix
- Rising Sun as Lt. Webster Smith
- Boiling Point as Jimmy Mercer
- Hardwood Dreams as Narrator
1992
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- HBO First Look
- White Men Can't Jump as Sidney Deane
- The Waterdance as Raymond Hill
- Passenger 57 as John Cutter
- The Real Malcolm X
1991
- New Jack City as Nino Brown
- Jungle Fever as Flipper Purify
- Sous les marches du palais as Self
1990
- King of New York as Thomas Flanigan
- Mo' Better Blues as Shadow Henderson (Sax)
- H.E.L.P. as Lou Barton
1989
- Major League as Willie Mays Hayes
1987
- The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Hood
- Critical Condition as Ambulance Driver
1986
- Wildcats as Trumaine
- Streets of Gold as Roland Jenkins
1984
- Miami Vice as Silk
1953
- The Oscars as Self