Sean Penn
Known for Acting · 143 credits
- Born
- 1960-08-17 (age 65)
- Place of birth
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Also known as
- Sean Justin 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.
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Known For
TV Shows (34)
Family Guy
1999
as Sean Penn (voice)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self
Friends
1994
as Eric
Two and a Half Men
2003
as Sean Penn
The Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host / Self (uncredited)
Real Time with Bill Maher
2003
as Self
Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000
as Sean Penn
The View
1997
as Self
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Presenter / Self - Nominee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self / Self - Guest
Little House on the Prairie
1974
as Boy (uncredited)
The Larry Sanders Show
1992
as Sean Penn
The Reichen Show
2005
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
Lights Out with David Spade
2019
as Self
Where Are They Now?
1999
as Self
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
2025
as Self - Actor and Founder of CORE
aspekte
1965
as Self
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
2008
as Self
Gaslit
2022
as John Mitchell
Iconoclasts
2005
as Self
The Early Show
1999
as Self
The First
2018
as Tom Haggerty
aka Charlie Sheen
2025
as Self
Variety & CNN Actors on Actors
2025
as Self
Viva La Bam
2003
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
2006
as Self
Brando: The Documentary
2007
as Self
VH1 Rock Honors
2006
Inside the Actors Studio
1994
as Self
Celebrities Uncensored
2003
as Self
Movies (109)
One Battle After Another
2025
as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
2013
as Sean O'Connell
The Angry Birds Movie
2016
as Terence (voice)
The Game
1997
as Conrad Van Orton
Mystic River
2003
as Jimmy Markum
I Am Sam
2001
as Sam Dawson
Carlito's Way
1993
as David Kleinfeld
The Thin Red Line
1998
as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
Being John Malkovich
1999
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
The Tree of Life
2011
as Jack
Licorice Pizza
2021
as Jack Holden
The Interpreter
2005
as Tobin Keller
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982
as Jeff Spicoli
Risky Business
1983
as Passenger in Car (uncredited)
Bad Boys
1983
as Mick O'Brien
Milk
2008
as Harvey Milk
Dead Man Walking
1995
as Matthew Poncelet
Gangster Squad
2013
as Mickey Cohen
Colors
1988
as Danny McGavin
U Turn
1997
as Bobby Cooper
21 Grams
2003
as Paul Rivers
Casualties of War
1989
as Sgt. Tony Meserve
The Gunman
2015
as Jim Terrier
State of Grace
1990
as Terry
Taps
1981
as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
Fair Game
2010
as Joseph Wilson
Daddio
2024
as Clark
The Falcon and the Snowman
1985
as Daulton Lee
The Professor and the Madman
2019
as Dr. William Chester Minor
We're No Angels
1989
as Jim
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
2004
as Self
I'm Still Here
2010
as Sean Penn (uncredited)
All the King's Men
2006
as Willie Stark
Before Night Falls
2000
as Cuco Sanchez
Woody Allen: A Documentary
2011
as Self
At Close Range
1986
as Bradford 'Brad' Whitewood Jr.
This Must Be the Place
2011
as Cheyenne
The Weight of Water
2001
as Thomas Janes
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
1987
as (voice)
What Just Happened
2008
as Sean Penn
Shanghai Surprise
1986
as Glendon Wasey
Sweet and Lowdown
1999
as Emmet Ray
Crackers
1984
as Dillard
BRATS
2024
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
2004
as Samuel Bicke
Asphalt City
2023
as Gene Rutkovsky
The People Speak
2009
as Self
Searching for Debra Winger
2002
as Self (uncredited)
Brando
2007
as Self
Flag Day
2021
as John Vogel
Pauly Shore Is Dead
2003
as Sean Penn
Hugo Pool
1997
as Strange Hitchhiker
Up at the Villa
2000
as Rowley Flint
The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles
2014
as Self
It's All About Love
2003
as Marciello
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
2002
as Self
She's So Lovely
1997
as Eddie Quinn
Hurlyburly
1998
as Eddie
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table Read
2020
as Pizza Guy
Racing with the Moon
1984
as Henry 'Hopper' Nash
Inside Björk
2003
as Self
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
2004
as Self(archive footage) (uncredited)
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
2008
as Self
Judgment in Berlin
1988
as Guenther X
The Killing of Randy Webster
1981
as Don Fremont
Cool Blue
1990
as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
Superpower
2023
as Self
Loved
1997
as Man on the Hill (Michael)
Hellinger's Law
1981
as Bit Part (uncredited)
A Constant Forge
2000
as Self
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
2006
as Self
Dogtown and Z-Boys
2002
as Narrator
Bukowski: Born Into This
2003
as Self
Gonzo Girl
2023
The Last Party
1993
as Self
Beaver Trilogy Part IV
2015
as Himself (archive footage)
Summerspell
1983
as Buddy
Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame
as Himself
Beaver Trilogy
2000
as "Groovin' Larry" Huff
Sweet Micky for President
2015
as Self
Americans
2012
as Commie
This So-Called Disaster
2003
as Ray
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
2004
as Self
Cruise Control
1992
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
2014
as Self
Becoming Madonna
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story
2014
as Himself
Bruce Springsteen: The America Whisperer
2024
as Self : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
Mystic River: From Page to Screen
2003
as Self
Citizen Penn
2020
as Himself
War Made Easy
2007
as Narrator (Voice)
21 Grams: In Fragments
2004
as Self
Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique
2024
as Self
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
2003
as Self
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
2011
as Self
Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1999
Animals in War
2025
Sound of Sun
2017
as Man
Witch Hunt
2008
as Himself (Narrator)
The Human Experiment
2015
as Narrator
Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
2004
as Self
The Beaver Kid 2
1981
as Groovin' Larry
Madonna: The Name of the Game
1993
as Self
Haiti Untold
2012
El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the Jungle
2016
as Self
Deflating the Elephant
2009
as Narrator
Mad Hannans
2017
In Thanks We Trust
2025
as Self
Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After Another
2026
as Self
About Sean Penn
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… With 143 credits spanning from 1944 to 2026, Sean Penn has appeared in 109 films and 34 TV shows.
Fans searching for Sean Penn movies, Sean Penn filmography, or the latest projects starring Sean Penn can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Sean Penn Movies
- One Battle After Another (2025) — as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) — as Sean O'Connell
- The Angry Birds Movie (2016) — as Terence (voice)
- The Game (1997) — as Conrad Van Orton
- Mystic River (2003) — as Jimmy Markum
Where to Watch Sean Penn Films
Most Sean Penn movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Sean Penn, check our movies catalogue and browse page.