Sean Penn
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Family Guy
Sean Penn (voice)
1999
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self
2015
Series
Friends
Eric
1994
Series
Two and a Half Men
Sean Penn
2003
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self (uncredited)
1975
Series
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Penn
2000
Series
Little House on the Prairie
Boy (uncredited)
1974
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Film
One Battle After Another
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
2025
Series
The Larry Sanders Show
Sean Penn
1992
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Film
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Sean O'Connell
2013
Film
The Game
Conrad Van Orton
1997
The Reichen Show
Self
2005
Series
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
Film
The Angry Birds Movie
Terence (voice)
2016
Film
Mystic River
Jimmy Markum
2003
Series
Lights Out with David Spade
Self
2019
Series
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
2025
Series
The Word
1990
Film
The Thin Red Line
1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
1998
Film
I Am Sam
Sam Dawson
2001
Film
Licorice Pizza
Jack Holden
2021
Where Are They Now?
Self
1999
Film
Carlito's Way
David Kleinfeld
1993
Series
Gaslit
John Mitchell
2022
Film
Risky Business
Passenger in Car (uncredited)
1983
Film
The Tree of Life
Jack
2011
Series
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
Self
2025
Film
Being John Malkovich
Sean Penn (uncredited)
1999
Film
Gangster Squad
Mickey Cohen
2013
Film
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jeff Spicoli
1982
Film
The Interpreter
Tobin Keller
2005
aspekte
Self
1965
Series
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
Self
2008
Film
Bad Boys
Mick O'Brien
1983
Film
The Gunman
Jim Terrier
2015
Film
Asphalt City
Gene Rutkovsky
2023
Series
Iconoclasts
Self
2005
Film
Dead Man Walking
Matthew Poncelet
1995
Film
21 Grams
Paul Rivers
2003
Film
Colors
Danny McGavin
1988
Series
aka Charlie Sheen
Self
2025
Film
State of Grace
Terry
1990
Series
The First
Tom Haggerty
2018
Film
Fair Game
Joseph Wilson
2010
Film
Casualties of War
Sgt. Tony Meserve
1989
Film
Milk
Harvey Milk
2008
Film
U Turn
Bobby Cooper
1997
Film
Flag Day
John Vogel
2021
Film
Taps
Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
1981
Series
Viva La Bam
2003
Film
I'm Still Here
Sean Penn (uncredited)
2010
Film
The Professor and the Madman
Dr. William Chester Minor
2019
Film
Daddio
Clark
2024
Film
All the King's Men
Willie Stark
2006
Film
Sweet and Lowdown
Emmet Ray
1999
Film
What Just Happened
Sean Penn
2008
Film
At Close Range
Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
1986
Film
She's So Lovely
Eddie Quinn
1997
Film
We're No Angels
Jim
1989
Series
The Early Show
Self
1999
Film
The Falcon and the Snowman
Daulton Lee
1985
Film
This Must Be the Place
Cheyenne
2011
Film
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Samuel Bicke
2004
Film
Racing with the Moon
Henry 'Hopper' Nash
1984
Film
Before Night Falls
Cuco Sanchez
2000
Film
BRATS
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2024
Series
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Self
2006
Series
VH1 Rock Honors
2006
Film
The Weight of Water
Thomas Janes
2001
Film
Woody Allen: A Documentary
Self
2011
Film
Becoming Madonna
Self (archive footage)
2024
Series
Brando: The Documentary
Self
2007
Film
The People Speak
Self
2009
Film
Citizen Penn
Himself
2020
Film
Hugo Pool
Strange Hitchhiker
1997
Film
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Sean Penn
2003
Film
Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another
Self
2026
Film
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
(voice)
1987
Film
Searching for Debra Winger
Self (uncredited)
2002
Film
Gonzo Girl
2023
Film
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Narrator
2002
Film
Shanghai Surprise
Glendon Wasey
1986
Film
It's All About Love
Marciello
2003
Film
Americans
Commie
2012
Film
Crackers
Dillard
1984
Film
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Self
2004
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
2004
Film
Up at the Villa
Rowley Flint
2000
Film
Hurlyburly
Eddie
1998
Film
The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
Self
2014
Film
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Self
2006
Film
Cool Blue
Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
1990
Film
Beaver Trilogy
"Groovin' Larry" Huff
2000
Film
Loved
Man on the Hill (Michael)
1997
Film
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self
2004
Film
Witch Hunt
Himself (Narrator)
2008
Film
Animals in War
2025
Mad Hannans
2017
Film
Judgment in Berlin
Guenther X
1988
Film
Hellinger's Law
Bit Part (uncredited)
1981
Film
Cruise Control
1992
Film
Brando
Self
2007
Film
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Self
2002
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
Self
2004
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
Self
2003
Film
Superpower
Self
2023
Film
A Constant Forge
Self
2000
Film
El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
Self
2016
Film
Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer
Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
2024
Film
Bukowski: Born Into This
Self
2003
Film
The Last Party
Self
1993
Film
The Killing of Randy Webster
Don Fremont
1981
Series
Inside the Actors Studio
Self
1994
Film
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Self
2008
Film
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
Self
2014
Film
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
Himself
1994
Film
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
Pizza Guy
2020
Film
Sweet Micky for President
Self
2015
Film
Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
Self
2024
Film
21 Grams: In Fragments
Self
2004
Film
War Made Easy
Narrator (Voice)
2007
Film
Inside Björk
Self
2003
Film
In Thanks We Trust
Self
2025
Film
Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
Himself
2014
Film
Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Himself (archive footage)
2015
Film
This So-Called Disaster
Ray
2003
Film
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self
2003
Film
The Human Experiment
Narrator
2015
Film
Samuel Bayer Beyond the Frame
Self
2026
Film
Summerspell
Buddy
1983
Film
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999
Film
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
Self
2011
Film
Madonna: The Name of the Game
Self
1993
Film
Haiti Untold
2012
Film
Sound of Sun
Man
2017
The Beaver Kid 2
Groovin' Larry
1981
Film
Deflating the Elephant
Narrator
2009
Series
Celebrities Uncensored
Self
2003