American actor, film producer, and martial artist Wesley Snipes started his acting career in the 1980s with a one episode appearance on the soap opera All My Children (1984). His first film roles were both in 1986 in Wildcats and Streets of Gold. He then appeared as Willie Mays Hayes in the 1989 sports comedy film Major League with Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen. He had prominent roles in the 1990s, starring in the films: New Jack City with Ice-T (1991), Jungle Fever with Annabella Sciorra and Anthony Quinn (1991), White Men Can't Jump with Woody Harrelson (1992), Rising Sun with Sean Connery (1993), Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone (1993), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar with Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo (1995), and U.S. Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones (1998). Also in 1998, he was cast as Eric Brooks / Blade in the film Blade, based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, a role he went on to reprise in Blade II (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
Snipes had smaller roles during the 2000s, most of them being direct-to-video before returning to the theatrical release, cast as Doctor "Doc" Death in the 2014 action film The Expendables 3 where he was reunited working with Sylvester Stallone. He teamed up with Eddie Murphy to co-star in the biographical comedy film Dolemite Is My Name as D'Urville Martin (2019) and the comedy film Coming 2 America (2021), as General Izzi.
His television work includes multiple episodes in drama series H.E.L.P. (1990), action thriller crime drama series The Player (2015), and drama limited series True Story (2021), opposite Kevin Hart.
Film Year Title Role Notes 1986 Wildcats Trumaine 1986 Streets of Gold Roland Jenkins 1987 Critical Condition Ambulance Driver Cameo 1989 Major League Willie Mays Hayes 1990 King of New York Detective Thomas Flanigan 1990 Mo' Better Blues Shadow Henderson 1991 New Jack City Nino Brown 1991 Jungle Fever Flipper Purify 1992 The Waterdance Raymond Hill 1992 White Men Can't Jump Sidney "Syd" Deane 1992 Passenger 57 Chief John Cutter 1993 Boiling Point Agent Jimmy Mercer 1993 Rising Sun Lieutenant Webster "Web" Smith 1993 Demolition Man Simon Phoenix 1993 Sugar Hill Romello "Rome" Skuggs 1994 Drop Zone U.S. Marshal Pete Nessip 1995 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar Noxeema Jackson 1995 Money Train Officer John Robinson 1995 Waiting to Exhale James Wheeler Uncredited cameo 1996 The Fan Bobby Rayburn 1996 John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk Documentary film; executive producer only 1997 Murder at 1600 Detective Harlan Regis 1997 One Night Stand Maximilian "Max" Carlyle Limited release 1998 U.S. Marshals Mark J. Sheridan / Mark Roberts / Mark Warren 1998 The Big Hit Producer only 1998 Down in the Delta Will Sinclair Limited release; also producer 1998 Blade Eric Brooks / Blade Also producer and martial arts choreographer 1999 Play It to the Bone Ringside Fan Limited release; cameo 2000 The Art of War Agent Neil Shaw Also executive producer 2002 Liberty Stands Still Agent Alex / Joe Limited release 2002 Zig Zag David "Dave" Fletcher Limited release 2002 Blade II Eric Brooks / Blade Also producer and fight coordinator 2002 Undisputed Monroe "Undisputed" Hutchens Also executive producer 2004 Unstoppable Agent Dean Cage Limited release; also producer 2004 Blade: Trinity Eric Brooks / Blade Also producer 2005 7 Seconds Jack Tulliver Direct-to-video 2005 The Marksman Enter "The Marksman" Painter Direct-to-video 2005 Chaos Lorenz / Jason York Direct-to-video 2006 The Detonator Agent Sonni Griffith Direct-to-video 2006 Hard Luck Lucky Direct-to-video 2007 The Contractor Agent James Jackson Dial Direct-to-video 2008 The Art of War II: Betrayal Agent Neil Shaw Direct-to-video 2009 Brooklyn's Finest Casanova "Caz" Phillips 2011 Game of Death Agent Marcus Jones Direct-to-video 2012 Revelations of the Mayans: 2012 and Beyond Documentary film; executive producer only 2012 Gallowwalkers Aman Direct-to-video 2014 The Expendables 3 Doctor "Doc" Death 2015 Chi-Raq Sean "Cyclops" Andrews Limited release 2017 The Recall "The Hunter" Limited release; also producer 2017 Armed Response Isaac Direct-to-video; also producer 2019 Dolemite Is My Name D'Urville Martin Limited release 2020 Cut Throat City Lawrence Limited release 2021 Coming 2 America General Izzi Streaming release 2023 Back on the Strip Luther "Mr. Big" Limited release; also producer 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine Eric Brooks / Blade 2025 Another Other Short film
Television Year Title Role Notes 1984 All My Children Marty Episode: "Episode #1.3877" 1986 Miami Vice Silk Episode: "Streetwise" 1987 Vietnam War Story Bookman Episode: "An Old Ghost Walks the Earth" 1989 A Man Called Hawk Nicholas Murdock 2 episodes 1989 The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd Hood Episode: "Here's Why You Should Always Make Your Bed in the Morning" 1990 H.E.L.P. Officer Lou Barton 6 episodes 1996 America's Dream George Du Vail Television film 1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child The Pied Piper Episode: "The Pied Piper"; voice role 1998 Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes Television documentary film; executive producer only 1998 Futuresport Obike Fixx Television film; also producer 2000 Disappearing Acts Franklin Swift Television film; also executive producer 2001 Dr. Ben Television documentary film; executive producer only 2003 The Bernie Mac Show Duke Episode: "Bernie Mac Rope-a-Dope" 2015 The Player Mr. Johnson 9 episodes 2018 Represent Episode: "Wesley Snipes Talks Blade and Black Panther" 2019 What We Do in the Shadows Wesley Episode: "The Trial" 2021 True Story Carlton 7 episodes 2023 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Maris Morlak 2 episodes; voice role 2025–2027 Paper Empire Damon Moore 2 episodes
Theatre Year Title Role Venue Notes 1986 Execution of Justice Sister Boom Boom Broadway
Music videos Year Title Role Performer Notes 1987 "Bad" Mini Max Michael Jackson
Soundtrack appearances Year Title Song Notes 1986 Wildcats "Football Rap (End Credits)" Uncredited 1990 Mo' Better Blues "Pop Top 40" 2015 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon "Fame" Episode: "Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting/Wesley Snipes/Chris Cornell"; uncredited
Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 1994 Demolition Man Simon Phoenix Live action full-motion video 2011 Julius Styles: The International Julius Styles
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