Sean Penn
Acting • Born 1960-08-17
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 accoladesinclude two 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 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), Daddio(2023), and One Battle After Another (2025). 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
147 credits
The Interpreter
Movie • 2005
Tobin Keller
Mystic River
Movie • 2003
Jimmy Markum
21 Grams
Movie • 2003
Paul Rivers
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Movie • 2002
Narrator
Milk
Movie • 2008
Harvey Milk
Casualties of War
Movie • 1989
Sgt. Tony Meserve
U Turn
Movie • 1997
Bobby Cooper
Dead Man Walking
Movie • 1995
Matthew Poncelet
Licorice Pizza
Movie • 2021
Jack Holden
State of Grace
Movie • 1990
Terry
All the King's Men
Movie • 2006
Willie Stark
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Movie • 2004
Samuel Bicke
Taps
Movie • 1981
Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
Colors
Movie • 1988
Danny McGavin
The Game
Movie • 1997
Conrad Van Orton
I Am Sam
Movie • 2001
Sam Dawson
Before Night Falls
Movie • 2000
Cuco Sanchez
We're No Angels
Movie • 1989
Jim
Haiti Untold
Movie • 2012
I'm Still Here
Movie • 2010
Sean Penn (uncredited)
Carlito's Way
Movie • 1993
David Kleinfeld
Sweet Micky for President
Movie • 2015
Self
Hurlyburly
Movie • 1998
Eddie
The Thin Red Line
Movie • 1998
1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
What Just Happened
Movie • 2008
Sean Penn
The Tree of Life
Movie • 2011
Jack
Hugo Pool
Movie • 1997
Strange Hitchhiker
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Movie • 2006
Self
It's All About Love
Movie • 2003
Marciello
The Falcon and the Snowman
Movie • 1985
Daulton Lee
The People Speak
Movie • 2009
Self
Sweet and Lowdown
Movie • 1999
Emmet Ray
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Movie • 1982
Jeff Spicoli
The Weight of Water
Movie • 2001
Thomas Janes
21 Grams: In Fragments
Movie • 2004
Self
Bad Boys
Movie • 1983
Mick O'Brien
At Close Range
Movie • 1986
Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
Searching for Debra Winger
Movie • 2002
Self (uncredited)
Beaver Trilogy
Movie • 2000
"Groovin' Larry" Huff
Fair Game
Movie • 2010
Joseph Wilson
She's So Lovely
Movie • 1997
Eddie Quinn
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Movie • 2004
Self
Racing with the Moon
Movie • 1984
Henry 'Hopper' Nash
Up at the Villa
Movie • 2000
Rowley Flint
Judgment in Berlin
Movie • 1988
Guenther X
Woody Allen: A Documentary
Movie • 2011
Self
Gangster Squad
Movie • 2013
Mickey Cohen
This Must Be the Place
Movie • 2011
Cheyenne
Animals in War
Movie • 2025
Loved
Movie • 1997
Man on the Hill (Michael)
Shanghai Surprise
Movie • 1986
Glendon Wasey
Crackers
Movie • 1984
Dillard
Superpower
Movie • 2023
Self
The Killing of Randy Webster
Movie • 1981
Don Fremont
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Movie • 2013
Sean O'Connell
Gonzo Girl
Movie • 2023
Summerspell
Movie • 1983
Buddy
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Movie • 2002
Self
Cruise Control
Movie • 1992
The Human Experiment
Movie • 2013
Narrator
The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Movie • 2014
Self
The Gunman
Movie • 2015
Jim Terrier
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Movie • 2014
Self
Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Movie • 2014
Himself
One Battle After Another
Movie • 2025
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Movie • 2003
Self
The Last Party
Movie • 1993
Self
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Movie • 2004
Self
The Beaver Kid 2
Movie • 1981
Groovin' Larry
Inside Björk
Movie • 2003
Self
The Angry Birds Movie
Movie • 2016
Terence (voice)
Risky Business
Movie • 1983
Passenger in Car (uncredited)
BRATS
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Movie • 2003
Sean Penn
Bruce Springsteen – The America whisperer
Movie • 2024
Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
Bukowski: Born Into This
Movie • 2003
Self
The Professor and the Madman
Movie • 2019
Dr. William Chester Minor
Sound of Sun
Movie • 2017
Man
Brando
Movie • 2007
Self
This So-Called Disaster
Movie • 2003
Ray
Being John Malkovich
Movie • 1999
Sean Penn (uncredited)
Hellinger's Law
Movie • 1981
Bit Part (uncredited)
Cool Blue
Movie • 1990
Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
Americans
Movie • 2012
Commie
Witch Hunt
Movie • 2008
Himself (Narrator)
A Constant Forge
Movie • 2000
Self
Mad Hannans
Movie • 2017
Deflating the Elephant
Movie • 2009
Narrator
Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Movie • 2015
Himself (archive footage)
Madonna: The Name of the Game
Movie • 1993
Self
Flag Day
Movie • 2021
John Vogel
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Movie • 1999
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Movie • 1987
(voice)
Citizen Penn
Movie • 2020
Himself
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Movie • 2020
Pizza Guy
Asphalt City
Movie • 2024
Gene Rutkovsky
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Movie • 2008
Self
Daddio
Movie • 2024
Clark
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Movie • 2011
Self
Clinton Foundation: Celebrity Division
Movie • 2011
Self
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Movie
Himself
Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Movie • 2024
Self
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Movie • 2004
Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Movie • 2004
Self
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Movie • 2003
Self
In Thanks We Trust
Movie • 2025
Self
War Made Easy
Movie • 2007
Self - Narrator (Voice)
"American Arts & Culture" Presents John Horatio Malkovich: "Dance of Despair and Disillusionment"
Movie
Self
Becoming Madonna
Movie • 2024
Self (archive footage)
El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Movie • 2016
Self
Inside the Actors Studio
TV • 1994
Self
Little House on the Prairie
TV • 1974
Boy (uncredited)
Friends
TV • 1994
Eric
Viva La Bam
TV • 2003
Two and a Half Men
TV • 2003
Sean Penn
The Early Show
TV • 1999
Self
Celebrities Uncensored
TV • 2003
Self
VH1 Rock Honors
TV • 2006
Iconoclasts
TV • 2005
Self
Where Are They Now?
TV • 1999
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
TV • 2008
Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self
The First
TV • 2018
Tom Haggerty
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self
The Reichen Show
TV • 2005
Self
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
Lights Out with David Spade
TV • 2019
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
Family Guy
TV • 1999
Sean Penn (voice)
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
TV • 2018
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV • 2003
Self
Curb Your Enthusiasm
TV • 2000
Sean Penn
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
TV • 2006
Self
Gaslit
TV • 2022
John Mitchell
aspekte
TV • 1965
Self
Brando: The Documentary
TV • 2007
Self
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
TV • 2025
Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter
aka Charlie Sheen
TV • 2025
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
TV • 2025
Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self - Guest
The Larry Sanders Show
TV • 1992
Sean Penn
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee