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.
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Popularity117
Credits6.7
Rating40.9M
Budget91.6M
RevenueActing
Primarily2025 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)