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
2025
- One Battle After Another as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- Everybody's Live with John Mulaney as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
- aka Charlie Sheen as Self
- Variety & CNN Actors on Actors as Self
- Words of War ... (Executive Producer)
- Manas ... (Executive Producer)
- Animals in War
- In Thanks We Trust as Self
2024
- Daddio as Clark
- BRATS as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- September 5 ... (Producer)
- 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)
- Asphalt City as Gene Rutkovsky
- Superpower as Self
- Gonzo Girl
2022
- Gaslit as John Mitchell
2021
- Licorice Pizza as Jack Holden
- Flag Day as John Vogel
- kid 90 ... (Executive Producer)
2020
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read as Pizza Guy
- Citizen Penn as Himself
2019
- Lights Out with David Spade as Self
- The Professor and the Madman as Dr. William Chester Minor
2018
- Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
- The First as Tom Haggerty
2017
- The Last Face ... (Director)
- Sound of Sun as Man
- Mad Hannans
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
- Sweet Micky for President as Self
- Beaver Trilogy Part IV as Himself (archive footage)
- The Human Experiment as Narrator
2014
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self - Guest
- The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles as Self
- Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey as Self
- Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story as Himself
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
- Milk as Harvey Milk
- What Just Happened as Sean Penn
- VH1 Rock Honors: The Who as Self
- Witch Hunt as Himself (Narrator)
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
- VH1 Rock Honors
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts as Self
- Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride as Self
2005
- The Reichen Show as Self
- Iconoclasts as Self
- The Interpreter as Tobin Keller
2004
- The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing as Self
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon as Samuel Bicke
- Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 21 Grams: In Fragments as Self
- Mystic River: Beneath the Surface as Self
- Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments as Self
2003
- Two and a Half Men as Sean Penn
- Real Time with Bill Maher as Self
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! 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
- Mystic River: From Page to Screen as Self
- Inside Björk as Self
- Celebrities Uncensored as Self
- Bukowski: Born Into This as Self
- Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) as Self
2002
- Searching for Debra Winger as Self (uncredited)
- September 11 ... (Director)
- Dogtown and Z-Boys as Narrator
- Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self
2001
- I Am Sam as Sam Dawson
- The Pledge ... (Producer)
- 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
- A Constant Forge as Self
- Beaver Trilogy as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
1999
- Family Guy as Sean Penn (voice)
- Where Are They Now? as Self
- Being John Malkovich as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- Sweet and Lowdown as Emmet Ray
- The Early Show as Self
- 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 ... (Writer)
1994
- Friends as Eric
- Inside the Actors Studio as Self
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
- 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