Sean Penn 1960 65

Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama Mystic River (2003) and the biopic Milk (2008).

Penn began his acting career in television, with a brief appearance in episode 112 of Little House on the Prairie on December 4, 1974, directed by his father Leo Penn. Following his film debut in the drama Taps (1981), and a diverse range of film roles in the 1980s, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Bad Boys (1983), Penn garnered critical attention for his roles in the crime dramas At Close Range (1986), State of Grace (1990), and Carlito's Way (1993). He became known as a prominent leading actor with the drama Dead Man Walking (1995), for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination and the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. Penn received another two Oscar nominations for Woody Allen's comedy-drama Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and the drama 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 at the Cannes Film Festival for the Nick Cassavetes-directed She's So Lovely (1997), and two Volpi Cups for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for the indie film Hurlyburly (1998) and the drama 21 Grams (2003).

Penn made his feature film directorial debut with The Indian Runner (1991), followed by the drama film The Crossing Guard (1995) and the mystery film The Pledge (2001); all three were critically well received. Penn directed one of the 11 segments of 11'09"01 September 11 (2002), a compilation film made in response to the September 11 attacks. His fourth feature film, the biographical drama survival movie Into the Wild (2007), garnered critical acclaim and two Academy Award nominations.

In addition to his film work, Penn has engaged in political and social activism, including his criticism of the George W. Bush administration, his contact with the Presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, and his humanitarian work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

From Santa Monica, California, USA

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6.7

Rating

40.9M

Budget

91.6M

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Acting

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Credit 117

2025 One Battle After Another as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw

2025 Words of War Executive Producer

2025 Untitled Jamal Khashoggi Project Producer, Director

2025 Candles Set Decoration

2025 Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame as Himself

2025 Animals in War

2024 September 5 Producer

2024 Bruce Springsteen, le chanteur qui murmurait à l'oreille de l'Amérique as Himself (archive) - director, writer

2024 Daddio as Clark

2024 BRATS as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

2024 Sean Penn, L'enfant terrible de l'Amérique as Self

2024 Asphalt City as Gene Rutkovsky Producer

2023 Gonzo Girl

2023 Superpower as Self Director

2021 Licorice Pizza as Jack Holden

2021 Flag Day as John Vogel Director, Producer

2021 Val as Self (archive footage)

2021 kid 90 Executive Producer

2020 Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity as Self (archive footage)

2020 Citizen Penn as Himself

2020 Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read as Pizza Guy

2019 The Professor and the Madman as Dr. William Chester Minor

2017 Sound of Sun as Man

2017 The Last Face Director

2017 Mad Hannans

2016 The Angry Birds Movie as Terence (voice)

2015 The Gunman as Jim Terrier Screenplay, Producer

2015 Beaver Trilogy Part IV as Himself (archive footage)

2015 Sweet Micky for President as Self

2014 Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story as Himself

2014 Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey as Self

2014 The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles as Self

2013 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Sean O'Connell

2013 The Human Experiment as Narrator Executive Producer

2013 Gangster Squad as Mickey Cohen

2012 Americans as Commie Story

2012 Haiti Untold

2011 Woody Allen: A Documentary as Self

2011 Clinton Foundation: Celebrity Division as Self

2011 This Must Be the Place as Cheyenne

2011 The Tree of Life as Jack

2011 Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune as Self

2010 I'm Still Here as Sean Penn (uncredited)

2010 Fair Game as Joseph Wilson

2009 The People Speak as Self

2009 Where the Wild Things Are Thanks

2009 Deflating the Elephant as Narrator

2008 Milk as Harvey Milk

2008 What Just Happened as Self

2008 Witch Hunt as Himself (Narrator)

2008 VH1 Rock Honors: The Who as Self

2007 Into the Wild Director, Producer, Screenplay

2007 Brando as Self

2006 Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride as Self

2006 All the King's Men as Willie Stark

2005 The Interpreter as Tobin Keller

2004 The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing as Self

2004 Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)

2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon as Samuel Bicke

2004 Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments as Self

2004 21 Grams: In Fragments as Self

2003 Mystic River as Jimmy Markum

2003 21 Grams as Paul Rivers

2003 Inside Björk as Self

2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead as Sean Penn

2003 Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) as Self

2003 Bukowski: Born Into This as Self

2003 It's All About Love as Marciello

2003 This So-Called Disaster as Ray

2002 11’09”01—September 11 Director, Writer

2002 Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self

2002 Searching for Debra Winger as Self (uncredited)

2002 Dogtown and Z-Boys as Narrator

2001 I Am Sam as Sam Dawson

2001 The Pledge Producer, Director

2000 The Weight of Water as Thomas Janes

2000 Before Night Falls as Cuco Sanchez

2000 Beaver Trilogy as "Groovin' Larry" Huff

2000 Up at the Villa as Rowley Flint

2000 A Constant Forge as Self

1999 Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High

1999 Sweet and Lowdown as Emmet Ray

1999 Being John Malkovich as Sean Penn (uncredited)

1998 Hurlyburly as Eddie

1998 The Thin Red Line as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh

1997 Hugo Pool as Strange Hitchhiker

1997 Loved as Man on the Hill (Michael) Producer

1997 U Turn as Bobby Cooper

1997 The Game as Conrad Van Orton

1997 She's So Lovely as Eddie Quinn Executive Producer

1995 Dead Man Walking as Matthew Poncelet

1995 The Crossing Guard Writer, Producer, Director

1993 Carlito's Way as David Kleinfeld

1993 The Last Party as Self

1993 Madonna: The Name of the Game as Self

1992 Cruise Control

1991 The Indian Runner Director, Screenplay

1990 State of Grace as Terry

1990 Cool Blue as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)

1989 Casualties of War as Sgt. Tony Meserve

1989 We're No Angels as Jim

1988 Judgment in Berlin as Guenther X

1988 Colors as Danny McGavin

1987 Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam as (voice)

1986 Shanghai Surprise as Glendon Wasey

1986 At Close Range as Bradford "Brad" Whitewood Jr.

1985 The Falcon and the Snowman as Daulton Lee

1984 Racing with the Moon as Henry 'Hopper' Nash

1984 Crackers as Dillard

1983 Risky Business as Cameo (uncredited)

1983 Summerspell as Buddy

1983 Bad Boys as Mick O'Brien

1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High as Jeff Spicoli

1981 Taps as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer

1981 The Beaver Kid 2 as Groovin' Larry

1981 The Killing of Randy Webster as Don Fremont

1981 Hellinger's Law as Bit Part (uncredited)

Genres

7.22 War 3

7.17 History 9

7.00 Mystery 6

6.95 Fantasy 4

6.91 Music 7

6.82 TV Movie 6

6.57 Crime 21

6.46 Thriller 28

6.45 Documentary 33

6.41 Drama 59

6.39 Adventure 5

6.24 Animation 1

6.24 Family 1

6.22 Action 5

5.74 Comedy 18

5.74 Romance 11

5.40 Science Fiction 1