Image of Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for the former and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the latter. Penn began his acting career in television with a brief appearance in a 1974 episode of Little House on the Prairie, directed by his father Leo Penn. Following his film debut in 1981's Taps and a diverse range of film roles in the 1980s, Penn emerged as a prominent leading actor with the 1995 drama film Dead Man Walking, for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination and the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Penn subsequently received another two Oscar nominations for Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and I Am Sam (2001), before winning his first Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 for Mystic River and a second one in 2008 for Milk. He has also won a Best Actor Award of the Cannes Film Festival for She's So Lovely (1997), and two Best Actor Awards at the Venice Film Festival for Hurlyburly (1998) and 21 Grams (2003). Penn made his feature film directorial debut with 1991's The Indian Runner, followed by the drama film The Crossing Guard (1995) and the mystery film The Pledge (2001). In 2002, Penn directed one of the 11 segments of 11'09"01 September 11, a compilation film made in response to the September 11 attacks. In 2007, Penn directed his fourth feature film Into the Wild, which garnered critical acclaim and two Academy Award nominations. In addition to his film work, Penn is known for his political and social activism, most notably his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, his contact with the Presidents of Venezuela and Cuba, and his humanitarian work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Penn also attracted media attention for his previous marriages to pop icon Madonna and actress Robin Wright. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Penn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Aug 17, 1960 In Santa Monica, California, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
111
First Appeared:
In the movie War Through the Eyes of Animals
Latest Project:
Movie The Battle of Baktan Cross 2025-08-06
Known For
Poster of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Poster of VH1 Rock Honors
Poster of Viva La Bam
Poster of Real Time with Bill Maher
Filmography
Movie War Through the Eyes of Animals 2025
Movie The Battle of Baktan Cross Col. Steven J. Lockjaw 2025-08-06
Movie BRATS Self (archive footage) (uncredited) 2024-06-07
Movie Asphalt City Gene Rutkovsky 2024-03-28
Movie Gonzo Girl 2023-09-07
Movie Superpower Self 2023-02-17
Series Gaslit John Mitchell 2022-04-24
Movie Friends: The Reunion (archive footage) 2021-05-27
Movie Licorice Pizza Jack Holden 2021-11-26
Movie Flag Day John Vogel 2021-08-20
Movie Val Self (archive footage) 2021-07-23
Movie Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity Self (archive footage) 2020-11-29
Movie The Professor and the Madman Dr. William Chester Minor 2019-03-07
Series The First Tom Haggerty 2018-09-14
Movie Sound of Sun Man 2017-01-14
Movie Mad Hannans 2017-01-01
Movie The Angry Birds Movie Terence (voice) 2016-05-11
Movie The Gunman Jim Terrier 2015-02-16
Movie Beaver Trilogy Part IV Himself (archive footage) 2015-01-23
Movie The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles Self 2014-02-09
Movie Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story Himself 2014-11-25
Movie Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey Self 2014-06-15
Movie Gangster Squad Mickey Cohen 2013-01-09
Movie The Human Experiment Narrator 2013-11-23
Movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Sean O'Connell 2013-12-18
Movie Americans Commie 2012-10-10
Movie Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune Self 2011-01-05
Movie This Must Be the Place Cheyenne 2011-08-24
Movie The Tree of Life Jack 2011-05-17
Movie Woody Allen: A Documentary Self 2011-11-20
Movie I'm Still Here Sean Penn (uncredited) 2010-09-10
Movie Fair Game Joseph Wilson 2010-05-20
Movie The People Speak Self 2009-12-13
Series Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis Unknown 2008-01-04
Movie VH1 Rock Honors: The Who Self 2008-07-17
Movie Witch Hunt Himself (Narrator) 2008-09-07
Movie Milk Harvey Milk 2008-11-05
Movie What Just Happened Self 2008-10-17
Movie Brando Self 2007-05-01
Movie Persepolis Mr. Satrapi - Marjane's father (English version, voice) 2007-06-27
Series VH1 Rock Honors Unknown 2006-05-31
Movie All the King's Men Willie Stark 2006-09-10
Movie Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride Self 2006-12-12
Series When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts Self 2006-08-21
Movie The Interpreter Tobin Keller 2005-04-08
Series Iconoclasts Unknown 2005-11-17
Movie 21 Grams: In Fragments Self 2004-03-16
Movie Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments Self 2004-05-01
Movie The Assassination of Richard Nixon Samuel Bicke 2004-05-17
Movie The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing Self 2004-10-12
Series Real Time with Bill Maher Unknown 2003-02-21
Movie Bukowski: Born Into This Self 2003-01-18
Movie This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs "The Late Henry Moss" Ray 2003-01-01
Movie It's All About Love Marciello 2003-01-10
Movie Pauly Shore Is Dead Sean Penn 2003-03-11
Series Viva La Bam Unknown 2003-10-26
Series Celebrities Uncensored Unknown 2003-06-04
Movie Mystic River Jimmy Markum 2003-10-07
Series Two and a Half Men Unknown 2003-09-22
Movie Inside Björk Self 2003-08-23
Movie 21 Grams Paul Rivers 2003-09-06
Movie Dogtown and Z-Boys Narrator 2002-05-10
Movie Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick Self 2002-09-01
Movie Searching for Debra Winger Self (uncredited) 2002-07-13
Movie The Weight of Water Thomas Janes 2001-03-30
Movie I Am Sam Sam Dawson 2001-12-28
Movie Up at the Villa Rowley Flint 2000-04-14
Movie A Constant Forge Self 2000-01-01
Movie The Beaver Trilogy "Groovin' Larry" Huff 2000-08-13
Movie Before Night Falls Cuco Sanchez 2000-09-03
Movie Being John Malkovich Sean Penn (uncredited) 1999-10-29
Series Where Are They Now? Unknown 1999-06-07
Series The Early Show Unknown 1999-11-01
Movie Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1999-12-21
Movie Sweet and Lowdown Emmet Ray 1999-12-03
Movie The Thin Red Line 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh 1998-12-23
Movie Hurlyburly Eddie 1998-12-25
Movie She's So Lovely Eddie Quinn 1997-08-29
Movie Hugo Pool Strange Hitchhiker 1997-12-12
Movie The Game Conrad Van Orton 1997-09-12
Movie U Turn Bobby Cooper 1997-10-03
Movie Loved Man on the Hill (Michael) 1997-10-31
Movie Dead Man Walking Matthew Poncelet 1995-12-29
Series Friends Eric 1994-09-22
Series Inside the Actors Studio Unknown 1994-08-14
Movie The Last Party Self 1993-08-27
Movie Carlito's Way David Kleinfeld 1993-11-10
Movie Cruise Control 1992-10-01
Movie State of Grace Terry 1990-09-14
Movie Cool Blue Phil the Plumber (uncredited) 1990-02-27
Movie We're No Angels Jim 1989-06-02
Movie Casualties of War Sgt. Tony Meserve 1989-08-18
Movie Judgment in Berlin Guenther X 1988-05-06
Movie Colors Danny McGavin 1988-04-15
Movie Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (voice) 1987-10-01
Movie Shanghai Surprise Glendon Wasey 1986-08-29
Movie At Close Range Bradford "Brad" Whitewood Jr. 1986-04-18
Movie The Falcon and the Snowman Daulton Lee 1985-01-25
Movie Racing with the Moon Henry 'Hopper' Nash 1984-03-23
Movie Crackers Dillard 1984-02-17
Movie Risky Business Cameo (uncredited) 1983-08-05
Movie Bad Boys Mick O'Brien 1983-03-25
Movie Summerspell Buddy 1983-07-02
Movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High Jeff Spicoli 1982-08-13
Movie Hellinger's Law Bit Part (uncredited) 1981-03-10
Movie The Beaver Kid 2 Groovin' Larry 1981-09-04
Movie Taps Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer 1981-12-20
Movie The Killing of Randy Webster Don Fremont 1981-03-11
Series Saturday Night Live Unknown 1975-10-11
Series Little House on the Prairie Unknown 1974-09-11
Series The Oscars Sean Penn 1953-03-19