Sean Penn
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 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

Family Guy

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Friends

Two and a Half Men

The Graham Norton Show

Real Time with Bill Maher

Saturday Night Live
All Movies (111)
- Samuel Bayer Beyond the Frame2026 · as Self
- Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another2026 · as Self
- Animals in War2025
- In Thanks We Trust2025 · as Self
- One Battle After Another2025 · as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- Becoming Madonna2024 · as Self (archive footage)
- Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer2024 · as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
- Daddio2024 · as Clark
- BRATS2024 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique2024 · as Self
- Gonzo Girl2023
- Asphalt City2023 · as Gene Rutkovsky
- Superpower2023 · as Self
- Licorice Pizza2021 · as Jack Holden
- Flag Day2021 · as John Vogel
- Citizen Penn2020 · as Himself
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read2020 · as Pizza Guy
- The Professor and the Madman2019 · as Dr. William Chester Minor
- Sound of Sun2017 · as Man
- Mad Hannans2017
- The Angry Birds Movie2016 · as Terence (voice)
- El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle2016 · as Self
- The Human Experiment2015 · as Narrator
- The Gunman2015 · as Jim Terrier
- Sweet Micky for President2015 · as Self
- Beaver Trilogy Part IV2015 · as Himself (archive footage)
- Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story2014 · as Himself
- Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey2014 · as Self
- The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles2014 · as Self
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty2013 · as Sean O'Connell
- Gangster Squad2013 · as Mickey Cohen
- Americans2012 · as Commie
- Haiti Untold2012
- Woody Allen: A Documentary2011 · as Self
- This Must Be the Place2011 · as Cheyenne
- The Tree of Life2011 · as Jack
- Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune2011 · as Self
- I'm Still Here2010 · as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- Fair Game2010 · as Joseph Wilson
- The People Speak2009 · as Self
- Deflating the Elephant2009 · as Narrator
- Milk2008 · as Harvey Milk
- What Just Happened2008 · as Sean Penn
- Witch Hunt2008 · as Himself (Narrator)
- VH1 Rock Honors: The Who2008 · as Self
- Viva La Bam: Fort Knoxville2007 · as Himself
- War Made Easy2007 · as Narrator (Voice)
- Brando2007 · as Self
- Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride2006 · as Self
- All the King's Men2006 · as Willie Stark
- The Interpreter2005 · as Tobin Keller
- The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing2004 · as Self
- Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild2004 · as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
- Mystic River: Beneath the Surface2004 · as Self
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon2004 · as Samuel Bicke
- Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments2004 · as Self
- 21 Grams: In Fragments2004 · as Self
- Mystic River: From Page to Screen2003 · as Self
- Mystic River2003 · as Jimmy Markum
- 21 Grams2003 · as Paul Rivers
- Inside Björk2003 · as Self
- Pauly Shore Is Dead2003 · as Sean Penn
- Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)2003 · as Self
- Bukowski: Born Into This2003 · as Self
- It's All About Love2003 · as Marciello
- This So-Called Disaster2003 · as Ray
- Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick2002 · as Self
- Searching for Debra Winger2002 · as Self (uncredited)
- Dogtown and Z-Boys2002 · as Narrator
- I Am Sam2001 · as Sam Dawson
- The Weight of Water2001 · as Thomas Janes
- A Constant Forge2000 · as Self
- Before Night Falls2000 · as Cuco Sanchez
- Beaver Trilogy2000 · as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
- Up at the Villa2000 · as Rowley Flint
- Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High1999
- Sweet and Lowdown1999 · as Emmet Ray
- Being John Malkovich1999 · as Sean Penn (uncredited)
- Hurlyburly1998 · as Eddie
- The Thin Red Line1998 · as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
- Hugo Pool1997 · as Strange Hitchhiker
- Loved1997 · as Man on the Hill (Michael)
- U Turn1997 · as Bobby Cooper
- The Game1997 · as Conrad Van Orton
- She's So Lovely1997 · as Eddie Quinn
- Dead Man Walking1995 · as Matthew Poncelet
- Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame1994 · as Himself
- Carlito's Way1993 · as David Kleinfeld
- The Last Party1993 · as Self
- Madonna: The Name of the Game1993 · as Self
- Cruise Control1992
- State of Grace1990 · as Terry
- Cool Blue1990 · as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
- Casualties of War1989 · as Sgt. Tony Meserve
- We're No Angels1989 · as Jim
- Judgment in Berlin1988 · as Guenther X
- Colors1988 · as Danny McGavin
- Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam1987 · as (voice)
- Shanghai Surprise1986 · as Glendon Wasey
- At Close Range1986 · as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
- The Falcon and the Snowman1985 · as Daulton Lee
- Racing with the Moon1984 · as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
- Crackers1984 · as Dillard
- Risky Business1983 · as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
- Summerspell1983 · as Buddy
- Bad Boys1983 · as Mick O'Brien
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High1982 · as Jeff Spicoli
- Taps1981 · as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
- The Beaver Kid 21981 · as Groovin' Larry
- The Killing of Randy Webster1981 · as Don Fremont
- Hellinger's Law1981 · as Bit Part (uncredited)
All TV Shows (37)
- Variety & CNN Actors on Actors2025 · as Self
- aka Charlie Sheen2025 · as Self
- Everybody's Live with John Mulaney2025 · as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
- Gaslit2022 · as John Mitchell
- Lights Out with David Spade2019 · as Self
- The First2018 · as Tom Haggerty
- Firing Line with Margaret Hoover2018
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self - Guest
- Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis2008 · as Self
- Brando: The Documentary2007 · as Self
- The Graham Norton Show2007 · as Self
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts2006 · as Self
- VH1 Rock Honors2006
- Iconoclasts2005 · as Self
- The Reichen Show2005 · as Self
- Viva La Bam2003
- Two and a Half Men2003 · as Sean Penn
- Celebrities Uncensored2003 · as Self
- Real Time with Bill Maher2003 · as Self
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
- Curb Your Enthusiasm2000 · as Sean Penn
- The Early Show1999 · as Self
- Where Are They Now?1999 · as Self
- Family Guy1999 · as Sean Penn (voice)
- The View1997 · as Self
- Friends1994 · as Eric
- Inside the Actors Studio1994 · as Self
- The Larry Sanders Show1992 · as Sean Penn
- Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Host
- Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self (uncredited)
- Little House on the Prairie1974 · as Boy (uncredited)
- aspekte1965 · as Self
- The Oscars1953 · as Self
- Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Presenter
- Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee