Sean Penn
Born: 1960-08-17 in Santa Monica, California, USA
Known For: Acting
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). 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.
Filmography
2026
- Black Sunflowers ... (Executive Producer)
- Red Rue Express as himself
- Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another as Self
- Samuel Bayer Beyond the Frame as Self
2025
- One Battle After Another as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- Everybody's Live with John Mulaney as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
- Variety & CNN Actors on Actors as Self
- aka Charlie Sheen as Self
- Words of War ... (Executive Producer)
- Manas ... (Executive Producer)
- Animals in War
- In Thanks We Trust as Self
2024
- September 5 ... (Producer)
- Asphalt City as Gene Rutkovsky
- Daddio as Clark
- BRATS as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Becoming Madonna as Self (archive footage)
- Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
- Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique as Self
2023
- C*A*U*G*H*T ... (Executive Producer)
- Gonzo Girl
- Superpower as Self
2022
- Gaslit as John Mitchell
2021
- Licorice Pizza as Jack Holden
- Val as Self (archive)
- Flag Day as John Vogel
- kid 90 ... (Executive Producer)
2020
- Citizen Penn as Self
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read as Pizza Guy
- Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity as Self
2019
- Lights Out with David Spade as Self
- The Professor and the Madman as Dr. William Chester Minor
2018
- Firing Line with Margaret Hoover as Self
- The First as Tom Haggerty
2017
- The Last Face ... (Director)
- Mad Hannans
- Sound of Sun as Man
2016
- The Angry Birds Movie as Terence (voice)
- El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle as Self
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- The Gunman as Jim Terrier
- Beaver Trilogy Part IV as Self (archive footage)
- Sweet Micky for President as Self
- The Human Experiment as Narrator
2014
2013
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Sean O'Connell
- Gangster Squad as Mickey Cohen
2012
- Americans as Commie
- Haiti Untold
2011
- The Tree of Life as Jack
- This Must Be the Place as Cheyenne
- Woody Allen: A Documentary as Self
- Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune as Self
2010
- Fair Game as Joseph Wilson
- I'm Still Here as Sean Penn (uncredited)
2009
- Where the Wild Things Are ... (Thanks)
- The People Speak as Self
- Deflating the Elephant as Narrator
2008
- Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis as Self
- What Just Happened as Sean Penn
- Milk as Harvey Milk
- Witch Hunt as Self (Narrator)
- VH1 Rock Honors: The Who as Self
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
- Into the Wild ... (Director)
- Brando: The Documentary as Self
- Brando as Self
- War Made Easy as Narrator (Voice)
2006
- All the King's Men as Willie Stark
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts as Self
- VH1 Rock Honors
- Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride as Self
2005
- The Reichen Show as Self
- The Interpreter as Tobin Keller
- Iconoclasts as Self
2004
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon as Samuel Bicke
- The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing as Self
- Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments as Self
- Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 21 Grams: In Fragments as Self
- Mystic River: Beneath the Surface as Self
2003
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- Two and a Half Men as Sean Penn
- Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- Mystic River as Jimmy Markum
- 21 Grams as Paul Rivers
- Viva La Bam
- Pauly Shore Is Dead as Sean Penn
- It's All About Love as Marciello
- This So-Called Disaster as Ray
- Bukowski: Born Into This as Self
- Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) as Self
- Mystic River: From Page to Screen as Self
- Inside Björk as Self
- Celebrities Uncensored as Self
2002
- Dogtown and Z-Boys as Narrator
- September 11 ... (Director)
- Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self
- Searching for Debra Winger as Self (uncredited)
2001
- I Am Sam as Sam Dawson
- The Pledge ... (Director)
- The Weight of Water as Thomas Janes
2000
- Curb Your Enthusiasm as Sean Penn
- Before Night Falls as Cuco Sanchez
- Up at the Villa as Rowley Flint
- Beaver Trilogy as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
- A Constant Forge as Self
1999
- Family Guy as Sean Penn (voice)
- Where Are They Now? as Self
- The Early Show as Self
- Being John Malkovich as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- Sweet and Lowdown as Emmet Ray
- Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1998
- The Thin Red Line as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
- Hurlyburly as Eddie
1997
1995
- Dead Man Walking as Matthew Poncelet
- The Crossing Guard ... (Director)
1994
1993
- Carlito's Way as David Kleinfeld
- The Last Party as Self
- Madonna: The Name of the Game as Self
1992
- The Larry Sanders Show as Sean Penn
- Cruise Control
1991
- The Indian Runner ... (Director)
1990
- The Word
- State of Grace as Terry
- Cool Blue as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
1989
- Casualties of War as Sgt. Tony Meserve
- We're No Angels as Jim
1988
- Colors as Danny McGavin
- Judgment in Berlin as Guenther X
1987
- Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam as (voice)
1986
- At Close Range as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
- Shanghai Surprise as Glendon Wasey
1985
- The Falcon and the Snowman as Daulton Lee
1984
- Racing with the Moon as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
- Crackers as Dillard
1983
- Risky Business as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
- Bad Boys as Mick O'Brien
- Summerspell as Buddy
1982
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High as Jeff Spicoli
1981
- Taps as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
- The Killing of Randy Webster as Don Fremont
- Hellinger's Law as Bit Part (uncredited)
- The Beaver Kid 2 as Groovin' Larry
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
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