Sean Penn is an American actor, director and producer. He has earned acclaim for his intense broody roles in dramatic films. Over his career he has received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Critics' Choice Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. In 2015, he received an Honorary César.
Penn's early roles include the teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), the crime drama Bad Boys (1983), and the war drama Casualties of War (1989). He earned the Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in Hurlyburly (1989). He played a sleazy lawyer in the Brian de Palma crime drama Carlito's Way (1993), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of a killer on death row in the Tim Robbins crime drama Dead Man Walking (1995) earning him the Silver Bear for Best Actor as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role.
For his role in the Nick Cassavettes romantic drama She's So Lovely (1997) he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He earned further Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his performances as a jazz guitarist in Woody Allen's romance Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and a mentally challenged man in Jessie Nelson's drama I Am Sam (2001). He won his second Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in the Alejandro González Iñárritu crime thriller 21 Grams (2003). That same year, he played a grieving father in the Clint Eastwood drama Mystic River (2003) for which he won the Academy Awards for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama as well as nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role.
Penn directed the adventure drama Into the Wild (2007) for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film. The following year, he portrayed gay rights activist Harvey Milk in the Gus Van Sant political drama Milk (2008), for which he received his second Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role with nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
In 2026, Penn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in One Battle After Another (2025), and also won the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1996 Best Actor Dead Man Walking 2000 Sweet and Lowdown 2002 I Am Sam 2004 Mystic River 2009 Milk 2026 Best Supporting Actor One Battle After Another
Actor Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1996 Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role Dead Man Walking 2002 I Am Sam 2004 Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Mystic River Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role 2009 Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Milk Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role 2026 Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture One Battle After Another Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2004 Best Actor in a Leading Role Mystic River 21 Grams 2009 Milk 2026 Best Actor in a Supporting Role One Battle After Another
Critics' Choice Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Critics' Choice Movie Awards2002 Best Actor I Am Sam 2004 Mystic River 2008 Best Director Into the Wild Best Writer 2009 Best Actor Milk Best Acting Ensemble 2026 Best Supporting Actor One Battle After Another
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2024 Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary Superpower
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1994 Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Carlito's Way 1996 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Dead Man Walking 2000 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Sweet and Lowdown 2004 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Mystic River 2009 Milk 2026 Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture One Battle After Another
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2006 Best Spoken Word Album Bob Dylan: Chronicles
Other awards and nominations Organizations Year Category Work Result Berlin International Film Festival 1995 Silver Bear for Best Actor Dead Man Walking 2022 Berlinale Documentary Award Superpower Cannes Film Festival 1997 Best Actor She's So Lovely 2001 Palme d'Or The Pledge 2016 The Last Face 2021 Flag Day César Awards2003 Best European Union Film September 11 2009 Best Foreign Film Into the Wild 2015 Honorary César Directors Guild of America Awards 2007 Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Into the Wild Independent Spirit Awards 1995 Best Male Lead Dead Man Walking 1998 Hurlyburly 2003 Special Distinction Award 21 Grams 2008 Best Male Lead Milk Venice International Film Festival1995 Golden Lion The Crossing Guard 1998 Volpi Cup for Best Actor Hurlyburly 2002 UNESCO Award September 11 2003 Volpi Cup for Best Actor 21 Grams
Honorary awards Organizations Year Award Result BAFTA\LA Britannia Award 2008 Stanley Kubrick Excellence in Film Award César Awards 2015 Honorary César Critics' Choice Awards 2011 Joel Siegel Award Hollywood Film Awards 2011 Humanitarian Award Producers Guild of America Award 2011 Stanley Kramer Award San Francisco International Film Festival 1999 Peter J. Owens Award San Sebastian International Film Festival 2003 Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award Television Academy 2022 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award Zurich Film Festival 2011 Golden Icon Award
See also Sean Penn filmography
References