Sean Penn

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.

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Filmography (140 Appearances)

Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame

TBA

Variety & CNN Actors on Actors

2025

Animals in War

2025

In Thanks We Trust

2025

One Battle After Another

2025

aka Charlie Sheen

2025

Everybody's Live with John Mulaney

2025

Becoming Madonna

2024

Bruce Springsteen – The America whisperer

2024

Daddio

2024

BRATS

2024

Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique

2024

Asphalt City

2024

Gonzo Girl

2023

Superpower

2023

Gaslit

2022

Licorice Pizza

2021

Flag Day

2021

Citizen Penn

2020

Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read

2020

Lights Out with David Spade

2019

The Professor and the Madman

2019

The First

2018

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

2018

Sound of Sun

2017

Mad Hannans

2017

The Angry Birds Movie

2016

El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle

2016

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015

The Human Experiment

2015

The Gunman

2015

Sweet Micky for President

2015

Beaver Trilogy Part IV

2015

Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story

2014

Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey

2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2014

The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles

2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2013

Gangster Squad

2013

Americans

2012

Haiti Untold

2012

Woody Allen: A Documentary

2011

This Must Be the Place

2011

The Tree of Life

2011

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

2011

I'm Still Here

2010

Fair Game

2010

The People Speak

2009

Deflating the Elephant

2009

Milk

2008

What Just Happened

2008

Witch Hunt

2008

VH1 Rock Honors: The Who

2008

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

2008

War Made Easy

2007

Brando

2007

Brando: The Documentary

2007

The Graham Norton Show

2007

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

2006

All the King's Men

2006

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

2006

VH1 Rock Honors

2006

Iconoclasts

2005

The Reichen Show

2005

The Interpreter

2005

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

2004

Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild

2004

Mystic River: Beneath the Surface

2004

The Assassination of Richard Nixon

2004

Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments

2004

21 Grams: In Fragments

2004

Mystic River: From Page to Screen

2003

Viva La Bam

2003

Mystic River

2003

Two and a Half Men

2003

21 Grams

2003

Inside Björk

2003

Celebrities Uncensored

2003

Pauly Shore Is Dead

2003

Real Time with Bill Maher

2003

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)

2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003

Bukowski: Born Into This

2003

It's All About Love

2003

This So-Called Disaster

2003

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick

2002

Searching for Debra Winger

2002

Dogtown and Z-Boys

2002

I Am Sam

2001

The Weight of Water

2001

Curb Your Enthusiasm

2000

A Constant Forge

2000

Before Night Falls

2000

Beaver Trilogy

2000

Up at the Villa

2000

Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High

1999

Sweet and Lowdown

1999

The Early Show

1999

Being John Malkovich

1999

Where Are They Now?

1999

Family Guy

1999

Hurlyburly

1998

The Thin Red Line

1998

Hugo Pool

1997

Loved

1997

U Turn

1997

The Game

1997

She's So Lovely

1997

The View

1997

Dead Man Walking

1995

Friends

1994

Inside the Actors Studio

1994

Carlito's Way

1993

The Last Party

1993

Madonna: The Name of the Game

1993

Cruise Control

1992

The Larry Sanders Show

1992

State of Grace

1990

Cool Blue

1990

Casualties of War

1989

We're No Angels

1989

Judgment in Berlin

1988

Colors

1988

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

1987

Shanghai Surprise

1986

At Close Range

1986

The Falcon and the Snowman

1985

Racing with the Moon

1984

Crackers

1984

Risky Business

1983

Summerspell

1983

Bad Boys

1983

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

1982

Taps

1981

The Beaver Kid 2

1981

The Killing of Randy Webster

1981

Hellinger's Law

1981 Debut

Saturday Night Live

1975

Little House on the Prairie

1974

aspekte

1965
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