Acting · Santa Monica, California, USA · Born August 17, 1960
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.
MovieSamuel Bayer Beyond the Frame
2026
as Self
MovieLearning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another
2026
as Self
TVVariety & CNN Actors on Actors
2025
as Self
MovieAnimals in War
2025
MovieIn Thanks We Trust
2025
as Self
MovieOne Battle After Another
2025
as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
TVaka Charlie Sheen
2025
as Self
TVEverybody's Live with John Mulaney
2025
as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
MovieBecoming Madonna
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieBruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer
2024
as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
MovieDaddio
2024
as Clark
MovieBRATS
2024
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieSean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
2024
as Self
MovieGonzo Girl
2023
MovieAsphalt City
2023
as Gene Rutkovsky
MovieSuperpower
2023
as Self
TVGaslit
2022
as John Mitchell
MovieLicorice Pizza
2021
as Jack Holden
MovieFlag Day
2021
as John Vogel
MovieCitizen Penn
2020
as Himself
MovieFast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
2020
as Pizza Guy
TVLights Out with David Spade
2019
as Self
MovieThe Professor and the Madman
2019
as Dr. William Chester Minor
TVThe First
2018
as Tom Haggerty
TVFiring Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
MovieSound of Sun
2017
as Man
Mad Hannans
2017
MovieThe Angry Birds Movie
2016
as Terence (voice)
MovieEl Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
2016
as Self
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self
MovieThe Human Experiment
2015
as Narrator
MovieThe Gunman
2015
as Jim Terrier
MovieSweet Micky for President
2015
as Self
MovieBeaver Trilogy Part IV
2015
as Himself (archive footage)
MovieReturn to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
2014
as Himself
MovieHolbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
2014
as Self
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
2014
as Self
MovieThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty
2013
as Sean O'Connell
MovieGangster Squad
2013
as Mickey Cohen
MovieAmericans
2012
as Commie
MovieHaiti Untold
2012
MovieWoody Allen: A Documentary
2011
as Self
MovieThis Must Be the Place
2011
as Cheyenne
MovieThe Tree of Life
2011
as Jack
MoviePhil Ochs: There But for Fortune
2011
as Self
MovieI'm Still Here
2010
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
MovieFair Game
2010
as Joseph Wilson
MovieThe People Speak
2009
as Self
MovieDeflating the Elephant
2009
as Narrator
MovieMilk
2008
as Harvey Milk
MovieWhat Just Happened
2008
as Sean Penn
MovieWitch Hunt
2008
as Himself (Narrator)
MovieVH1 Rock Honors: The Who
2008
as Self
TVBetween Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
2008
as Self
MovieWar Made Easy
2007
as Narrator (Voice)
MovieBrando
2007
as Self
TVBrando: The Documentary
2007
as Self
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieBuy the Ticket, Take the Ride
2006
as Self
MovieAll the King's Men
2006
as Willie Stark
TVWhen the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
2006
as Self
TVVH1 Rock Honors
2006
TVIconoclasts
2005
as Self
The Reichen Show
2005
as Self
MovieThe Interpreter
2005
as Tobin Keller
MovieThe Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
2004
as Self
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
2004
as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
2004
as Self
MovieThe Assassination of Richard Nixon
2004
as Samuel Bicke
MovieDennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
2004
as Self
Movie21 Grams: In Fragments
2004
as Self
Movie21 Grams
2003
as Paul Rivers
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
2003
as Self
TVViva La Bam
2003
MovieMystic River
2003
as Jimmy Markum
TVTwo and a Half Men
2003
as Sean Penn
MovieInside Björk
2003
as Self
TVCelebrities Uncensored
2003
as Self
MoviePauly Shore Is Dead
2003
as Sean Penn
TVReal Time with Bill Maher
2003
as Self
MovieDennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
2003
as Self
TVJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self
MovieBukowski: Born Into This
2003
as Self
MovieIt's All About Love
2003
as Marciello
MovieThis So-Called Disaster
2003
as Ray
MovieRosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
2002
as Self
MovieSearching for Debra Winger
2002
as Self (uncredited)
MovieDogtown and Z-Boys
2002
as Narrator
MovieI Am Sam
2001
as Sam Dawson
MovieThe Weight of Water
2001
as Thomas Janes
TVCurb Your Enthusiasm
2000
as Sean Penn
MovieA Constant Forge
2000
as Self
MovieBefore Night Falls
2000
as Cuco Sanchez
MovieBeaver Trilogy
2000
as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
MovieUp at the Villa
2000
as Rowley Flint
MovieReliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999
MovieSweet and Lowdown
1999
as Emmet Ray
TVThe Early Show
1999
as Self
MovieBeing John Malkovich
1999
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
Where Are They Now?
1999
as Self
TVFamily Guy
1999
as Sean Penn (voice)
MovieHurlyburly
1998
as Eddie
MovieThe Thin Red Line
1998
as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
MovieHugo Pool
1997
as Strange Hitchhiker
MovieLoved
1997
as Man on the Hill (Michael)
MovieU Turn
1997
as Bobby Cooper
MovieThe Game
1997
as Conrad Van Orton
MovieShe's So Lovely
1997
as Eddie Quinn
TVThe View
1997
as Self
MovieDead Man Walking
1995
as Matthew Poncelet
MovieRobbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
1994
as Himself
TVFriends
1994
as Eric
TVInside the Actors Studio
1994
as Self
MovieCarlito's Way
1993
as David Kleinfeld
MovieThe Last Party
1993
as Self
MovieMadonna: The Name of the Game
1993
as Self
MovieCruise Control
1992
TVThe Larry Sanders Show
1992
as Sean Penn
MovieState of Grace
1990
as Terry
TVThe Word
1990
MovieCool Blue
1990
as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
MovieCasualties of War
1989
as Sgt. Tony Meserve
MovieWe're No Angels
1989
as Jim
MovieJudgment in Berlin
1988
as Guenther X
MovieColors
1988
as Danny McGavin
MovieDear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
1987
as (voice)
MovieShanghai Surprise
1986
as Glendon Wasey
MovieAt Close Range
1986
as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
MovieThe Falcon and the Snowman
1985
as Daulton Lee
MovieRacing with the Moon
1984
as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
MovieCrackers
1984
as Dillard
MovieRisky Business
1983
as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
MovieSummerspell
1983
as Buddy
MovieBad Boys
1983
as Mick O'Brien
MovieFast Times at Ridgemont High
1982
as Jeff Spicoli
MovieTaps
1981
as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
The Beaver Kid 2
1981
as Groovin' Larry
MovieThe Killing of Randy Webster
1981
as Don Fremont
MovieHellinger's Law
1981
as Bit Part (uncredited)
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
TVLittle House on the Prairie
1974
as Boy (uncredited)
aspekte
1965
as Self
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter
