
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Aug 17, 1960 · 66 years old
- Place of birth
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Gender
- Male
- Credits
- 149 as cast · 38 as crew
- Best known for
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
- Popularity
- 4.1

Red Rue Express
himself2026

Samuel Bayer Beyond the Frame
Self2026

Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another
Self2026

Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
Self2025

Animals in War
2025

In Thanks We Trust
Self2025

One Battle After Another
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw2025

aka Charlie Sheen
Self2025

Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Actor and Founder of CORE2025

Becoming Madonna
Self (archive footage)2024

Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer
Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)2024

Daddio
Clark2024

BRATS
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)2024

Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Self2024

Asphalt City
Gene Rutkovsky2024

Gonzo Girl
2023

Superpower
Self2023

Gaslit
John Mitchell2022

Licorice Pizza
Jack Holden2021

Flag Day
John Vogel2021

Val
Self (archive)2021

Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity
Self2020

Citizen Penn
Self2020

Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Pizza Guy2020

Lights Out with David Spade
Self2019

The Professor and the Madman
Dr. William Chester Minor2019

The First
Tom Haggerty2018

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
Self2018

Sound of Sun
Man2017
Mad Hannans
2017

The Angry Birds Movie
Terence (voice)2016

El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Self2016

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self2015

The Human Experiment
Narrator2015

The Gunman
Jim Terrier2015

Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Self (archive footage)2015

Sweet Micky for President
Self2015

Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Self2014

Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Self2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest2014

The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Self2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Sean O'Connell2013

Gangster Squad
Mickey Cohen2013

Americans
Commie2012

Haiti Untold
2012

Woody Allen: A Documentary
Self2011

This Must Be the Place
Cheyenne2011

The Tree of Life
Jack2011

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Self2011

I'm Still Here
Sean Penn (uncredited)2010

Fair Game
Joseph Wilson2010

The People Speak
Self2009

Deflating the Elephant
Narrator2009

Milk
Harvey Milk2008

What Just Happened
Sean Penn2008

Witch Hunt
Self (Narrator)2008

VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Self2008

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Self2008

War Made Easy
Narrator (Voice)2007

Brando: The Documentary
Self2007

Brando
Self2007

The Graham Norton Show
Self2007

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Self2006

All the King's Men
Willie Stark2006

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Self2006

VH1 Rock Honors
2006

Iconoclasts
Self2005
The Reichen Show
Self2005

The Interpreter
Tobin Keller2005

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Self2004
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)2004
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Self2004

The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Samuel Bicke2004

Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self2004

21 Grams: In Fragments
Self2004

21 Grams
Paul Rivers2003
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Self2003

Viva La Bam
2003

Mystic River
Jimmy Markum2003

Two and a Half Men
Sean Penn2003

Inside Björk
Self2003

Celebrities Uncensored
Self2003

Pauly Shore Is Dead
Sean Penn2003

Real Time with Bill Maher
Self2003

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self2003

Bukowski: Born Into This
Self2003

It's All About Love
Marciello2003

This So-Called Disaster
Ray2003

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Self2002

Searching for Debra Winger
Self (uncredited)2002

Dogtown and Z-Boys
Narrator2002

I Am Sam
Sam Dawson2001

The Weight of Water
Thomas Janes2001

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Penn2000

A Constant Forge
Self2000

Before Night Falls
Cuco Sanchez2000

Beaver Trilogy
"Groovin' Larry" Huff2000

Up at the Villa
Rowley Flint2000

Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999

Sweet and Lowdown
Emmet Ray1999

The Early Show
Self1999

Being John Malkovich
Sean Penn (uncredited)1999
Where Are They Now?
Self1999

Family Guy
Sean Penn (voice)1999

Hurlyburly
Eddie1998

The Thin Red Line
1st Sgt. Edward Welsh1998

Hugo Pool
Strange Hitchhiker1997

Loved
Man on the Hill (Michael)1997

U Turn
Bobby Cooper1997

The Game
Conrad Van Orton1997

She's So Lovely
Eddie Quinn1997

The View
Self1997

Dead Man Walking
Matthew Poncelet1995

Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Self1994

Friends
Eric1994

Inside the Actors Studio
Self1994

Carlito's Way
David Kleinfeld1993

The Last Party
Self1993

Madonna: The Name of the Game
Self1993

Cruise Control
1992

The Larry Sanders Show
Sean Penn1992

State of Grace
Terry1990

The Word
1990

Cool Blue
Phil the Plumber (uncredited)1990

Casualties of War
Sgt. Tony Meserve1989

We're No Angels
Jim1989

Judgment in Berlin
Guenther X1988

Colors
Danny McGavin1988

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
(voice)1987

Shanghai Surprise
Glendon Wasey1986

At Close Range
Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.1986

The Falcon and the Snowman
Daulton Lee1985

Racing with the Moon
Henry 'Hopper' Nash1984

Crackers
Dillard1984

Risky Business
Passenger in Car (uncredited)1983

Summerspell
Buddy1983

Bad Boys
Mick O'Brien1983

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jeff Spicoli1982

Taps
Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer1981
The Beaver Kid 2
Groovin' Larry1981

The Killing of Randy Webster
Don Fremont1981

Hellinger's Law
Bit Part (uncredited)1981

Saturday Night Live
Self - Host1975

Little House on the Prairie
Boy (uncredited)1974
aspekte
Self1965

The Oscars
Self1953

Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter1944
Snake Island