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Actor
Sean Penn
Sean Penn’s screen credits include Sean O'Connell in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Harvey Milk in Milk, and Terence (voice) in The Angry Birds Movie.
Born August 17, 1960 Santa Monica, California, USA4 movies on MoviHero
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THE PERSON BEHIND THE ROLES
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 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). …
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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.
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MOVIHERO CREDITS
Movies and roles
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More film credits 96 additional titles
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- 2026Black SunflowersProducer
- 2026Red Rue Expresshimself
- 2026Samuel Bayer Beyond the FrameSelf
- 2026Learning, Studying… Always Perfecting: The Making of One Battle After AnotherSelf
- 2025Animals in WarActor
- 2025In Thanks We TrustSelf
- 2025One Battle After AnotherCol. Steven J. Lockjaw
- 2025Words of WarProducer
- 2025ManasProducer
- 2024Becoming MadonnaSelf (archive footage)
- 2024September 5Producer
- 2024Bruce Springsteen: The America WhispererSelf : Actor, Director & Writer (Archive footage)
- 2024DaddioClark
- 2024BRATSSelf (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2024Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'AmériqueSelf
- 2024Asphalt CityProducer · Gene Rutkovsky
- 2023Gonzo GirlActor
- 2023SuperpowerDirector · Self
- 2021Licorice PizzaJack Holden
- 2021Flag DayDirector · Producer · John Vogel
- 2021ValSelf (archive)
- 2021kid 90Producer
- 2020Charles Bronson: The Spirit of MasculinitySelf
- 2020Citizen PennSelf
- 2020Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Virtual Table ReadPizza Guy
- 2019The Professor and the MadmanDr. William Chester Minor
- 2017Sound of SunMan
- 2017The Last FaceDirector
- 2017Mad HannansActor
- 2016El Chapo & Sean Penn: Bungle in the JungleSelf
- 2015The Human ExperimentProducer · Narrator
- 2015The GunmanWriter · Producer · Jim Terrier
- 2015Beaver Trilogy Part IVSelf (archive footage)
- 2015Sweet Micky for PresidentSelf
- 2014Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless StorySelf
- 2014Holbrook/Twain: An American OdysseySelf
- 2014The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the BeatlesSelf
- 2013Gangster SquadMickey Cohen
- 2012AmericansWriter · Commie
- 2012Haiti UntoldActor
- 2011Woody Allen: A DocumentarySelf
- 2011This Must Be the PlaceCheyenne
- 2011Phil Ochs: There But for FortuneSelf
- 2010I'm Still HereSean Penn (uncredited)
- 2010Fair GameJoseph Wilson
- 2009The People SpeakSelf
- 2009Deflating the ElephantNarrator
- 2008What Just HappenedSean Penn
- 2008Witch HuntSelf (Narrator)
- 2008VH1 Rock Honors: The WhoSelf
- 2007Into the WildWriter · Director · Producer
- 2007War Made EasyNarrator (Voice)
- 2007BrandoSelf
- 2006Buy the Ticket, Take the RideSelf
- 2006All the King's MenWillie Stark
- 2005The InterpreterTobin Keller
- 2004The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie EditingSelf
- 2004Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is WildSelf (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004Mystic River: Beneath the SurfaceSelf
- 2004The Assassination of Richard NixonSamuel Bicke
- 2004Dennis Hopper: The Decisive MomentsSelf
- 200421 Grams: In FragmentsSelf
- 200321 GramsPaul Rivers
- 2003Mystic River: From Page to ScreenSelf
- 2003Mystic RiverJimmy Markum
- 2003Inside BjörkSelf
- 2003Pauly Shore Is DeadSean Penn
- 2003Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)Self
- 2003Bukowski: Born Into ThisSelf
- 2003It's All About LoveMarciello
- 2003This So-Called DisasterRay
- 2002September 11Director · Writer
- 2002Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence MalickSelf
- 2002Searching for Debra WingerSelf (uncredited)
- 2002Dogtown and Z-BoysNarrator
- 2001I Am SamSam Dawson
- 2001The Weight of WaterThomas Janes
- 2001The PledgeProducer · Director
- 2000A Constant ForgeSelf
- 2000Before Night FallsCuco Sanchez
- 2000Beaver Trilogy"Groovin' Larry" Huff
- 2000Up at the VillaRowley Flint
- 1999Reliving Our Fast Times at Ridgemont HighActor
- 1999Sweet and LowdownEmmet Ray
- 1999Being John MalkovichSean Penn (uncredited)
- 1998HurlyburlyEddie
- 1998The Thin Red Line1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
- 1997Hugo PoolStrange Hitchhiker
- 1997LovedProducer · Man on the Hill (Michael)
- 1997U TurnBobby Cooper
- 1997The GameConrad Van Orton
- 1997She's So LovelyProducer · Eddie Quinn
- 1995Dead Man WalkingMatthew Poncelet
- 1995The Crossing GuardWriter · Producer · Director
- 1994Robbie Robertson: A Retrospective - From the Band to the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of FameSelf
- 1993Carlito's WayDavid Kleinfeld
CHARACTER GUIDES
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Jack
The Tree of Life
Open character guideHarvey Milk
Milk
Open character guideSean O'Connell
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
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Adam Scott
1 shared film on MoviHeroActor
Adrian Martinez
1 shared film on MoviHeroActor
Alex Anfanger
1 shared film on MoviHeroActor