Sean Penn
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 17, 1960 (age 66)
- Birthplace
- Santa Monica, California, USA
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Snake Island
Movie
Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another
Movie · as Self
Samuel Bayer Beyond the Frame
Movie · as Self
Red Rue Express
Movie · as himself
The Angry Birds Movie 3
Movie · as Terence (voice)
Animals in War
Movie
One Battle After Another
Movie · as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
In Thanks We Trust
Movie · as Self
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
TV · as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE · 1 ep
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
TV · as Self · 1 ep
aka Charlie Sheen
TV · as Self · 2 eps
BRATS
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer
Movie · as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
Asphalt City
Movie · as Gene Rutkovsky
Daddio
Movie · as Clark
Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Movie · as Self
Becoming Madonna
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Superpower
Movie · as Self
Gonzo Girl
Movie
Gaslit
TV · as John Mitchell · 8 eps
Licorice Pizza
Movie · as Jack Holden
Flag Day
Movie · as John Vogel
Val
Movie · as Self (archive)
Citizen Penn
Movie · as Self
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Movie · as Pizza Guy
Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity
Movie · as Self
The Professor and the Madman
Movie · as Dr. William Chester Minor
Lights Out with David Spade
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The First
TV · as Tom Haggerty · 8 eps
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Sound of Sun
Movie · as Man
Mad Hannans
Movie
The Angry Birds Movie
Movie · as Terence (voice)
El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Movie · as Self
Sweet Micky for President
Movie · as Self
The Human Experiment
Movie · as Narrator
The Gunman
Movie · as Jim Terrier
Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Movie · as Self
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Movie · as Self
Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Movie · as Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Gangster Squad
Movie · as Mickey Cohen
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Movie · as Sean O'Connell
Haiti Untold
Movie
Americans
Movie · as Commie
The Tree of Life
Movie · as Jack
Woody Allen: A Documentary
Movie · as Self
This Must Be the Place
Movie · as Cheyenne
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Movie · as Self
I'm Still Here
Movie · as Sean Penn (uncredited)
Fair Game
Movie · as Joseph Wilson
The People Speak
Movie · as Self
Deflating the Elephant
Movie · as Narrator
Milk
Movie · as Harvey Milk
What Just Happened
Movie · as Sean Penn
Witch Hunt
Movie · as Self (Narrator)
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Movie · as Self
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Brando
Movie · as Self
War Made Easy
Movie · as Narrator (Voice)
The Graham Norton Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Brando: The Documentary
TV · as Self · 2 eps
All the King's Men
Movie · as Willie Stark
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Movie · as Self
VH1 Rock Honors
TV · 1 ep
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
TV · as Self · 4 eps
The Interpreter
Movie · as Tobin Keller
Iconoclasts
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Reichen Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Movie · as Samuel Bicke
21 Grams: In Fragments
Movie · as Self
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Movie · as Self
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Movie · as Self
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Movie · as Self
Mystic River
Movie · as Jimmy Markum
21 Grams
Movie · as Paul Rivers
It's All About Love
Movie · as Marciello
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Movie · as Self
Inside Björk
Movie · as Self
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Movie · as Sean Penn
Bukowski: Born Into This
Movie · as Self
This So-Called Disaster
Movie · as Ray
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Movie · as Self
Viva La Bam
TV · 1 ep
Two and a Half Men
TV · as Sean Penn · 1 ep
Celebrities Uncensored
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV · as Self, Self - Guest · 2 eps
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV · as Self · 4 eps
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Movie · as Narrator
Searching for Debra Winger
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Movie · as Self
I Am Sam
Movie · as Sam Dawson
The Weight of Water
Movie · as Thomas Janes
Before Night Falls
Movie · as Cuco Sanchez
Beaver Trilogy
Movie · as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
Up at the Villa
Movie · as Rowley Flint
A Constant Forge
Movie · as Self
Curb Your Enthusiasm
TV · as Sean Penn · 1 ep
Sweet and Lowdown
Movie · as Emmet Ray
Being John Malkovich
Movie · as Sean Penn (uncredited)
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Movie
The Early Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Where Are They Now?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Family Guy
TV · as Sean Penn (voice) · 1 ep
Hurlyburly
Movie · as Eddie
The Thin Red Line
Movie · as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
U Turn
Movie · as Bobby Cooper
The Game
Movie · as Conrad Van Orton
Hugo Pool
Movie · as Strange Hitchhiker
She's So Lovely
Movie · as Eddie Quinn
Loved
Movie · as Man on the Hill (Michael)
The View
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Film Independent Spirit Awards
TV · as Self - Winner · 1 ep
Dead Man Walking
Movie · as Matthew Poncelet
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Movie · as Self
Inside the Actors Studio
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Friends
TV · as Eric · 2 eps
Carlito's Way
Movie · as David Kleinfeld
The Last Party
Movie · as Self
Madonna: The Name of the Game
Movie · as Self
Cruise Control
Movie
The Larry Sanders Show
TV · as Sean Penn · 2 eps
SnowwhiteRosered
Movie · as Self
State of Grace
Movie · as Terry
Cool Blue
Movie · as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
The Word
TV · 2 eps
Casualties of War
Movie · as Sgt. Tony Meserve
We're No Angels
Movie · as Jim
Colors
Movie · as Danny McGavin
Judgment in Berlin
Movie · as Guenther X
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Movie · as (voice)
At Close Range
Movie · as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
Shanghai Surprise
Movie · as Glendon Wasey
The Falcon and the Snowman
Movie · as Daulton Lee
Racing with the Moon
Movie · as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
Crackers
Movie · as Dillard
Bad Boys
Movie · as Mick O'Brien
Summerspell
Movie · as Buddy
Risky Business
Movie · as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Movie · as Jeff Spicoli
Taps
Movie · as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
The Killing of Randy Webster
Movie · as Don Fremont
The Beaver Kid 2
Movie · as Groovin' Larry
Hellinger's Law
Movie · as Bit Part (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live
TV · as Self - Host, Self (uncredited) · 1 ep
Little House on the Prairie
TV · as Boy (uncredited) · 1 ep
aspekte
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee · 1 ep