Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, also known for his left-wing political and social activism (including humanitarian work). He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for the former and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the latter.
Penn began his acting career in television with a brief appearance in a 1974 episode of Little House on the Prairie, directed by his father Leo Penn. Following his film debut in 1981’s Taps and a diverse range of film roles in the 1980s, Penn emerged as a prominent leading actor with the 1995 drama film Dead Man Walking, for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination and the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Penn received another two Oscar nominations for Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and 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 of the Cannes Film Festival for She’s So Lovely (1997), and two Best Actor Awards at the Venice Film Festival for Hurlyburly (1998) and 21 Grams (2003).
Here is a list of best moments and performance of Sean Penn.
(Source: wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Penn)
10THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (2011)
This Must Be the Place is a 2011 European drama film directed by Paolo Sorrentino, written by Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello and released in the U.S. in late 2012. It stars Sean Penn and Frances McDormand. The film deals with a middle-aged wealthy rock star who becomes bored in his retirement and takes on the quest of finding his father's tormentor, a Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the United States.
The film was an Italian-majority production with co-producers in France and Ireland. Principal photography began in August 2010. Filming took place in Ireland and Italy, as well as the states of Michigan, New Mexico and New York. The film was in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Must_Be_the_Place_%28film%29)
09SHE’S SO LOVELY (1997)
Eddie Quinn's unruly wife Maureen drinks and smokes to excess, even though she is pregnant. Eddie has troubles of his own, disappearing for days at a time. When she is physically and sexually assaulted by Kiefer, a neighbor, it is more than Eddie can handle. He shoots someone and lands in a psychiatric hospital.
Ten years go by. Eddie finally returns, only to find Maureen is now a clean, sober, solid citizen, married to a new man, Joey, and a mother of three children, one of whom is Eddie's own daughter. Eddie's return complicates and endangers all of their lives.
0821 GRAMS (2003)
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Benicio del Toro. 21 Grams interweaves several plot lines, around the consequences of a tragic automobile accident. Penn plays a critically ill academic mathematician, Watts plays a grief-stricken mother, and del Toro plays a born-again Christian ex-convict whose faith is sorely tested in the aftermath of the accident. 21 Grams is presented in a non-linear arrangement where the lives of the characters are depicted before and after the accident. The three main characters each have 'past', 'present', and 'future' story threads, which are shown as non-linear fragments that punctuate elements of the overall story, all imminently coming toward each other and coalescing as the story progresses.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_Grams)
07CARLITO’S WAY (1993)
Carlito's Way is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pacino and Sean Penn, with Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzmán, John Leguizamo, and Viggo Mortensen in supporting roles. The film's featured song, "You Are So Beautiful", was performed by Joe Cocker.
The film follows the life of Carlito Brigante after he is released from prison and vows to go straight and retire. However, unable to escape his past, he ends up being dragged into the same criminal activities that got him imprisoned in the first place.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlito%27s_Way)
06SWEET AND LOWDOWN (1999)
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film tells the story, set in the 1930s, of a fictional jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn) who regards himself as the second greatest guitarist in the world (after jazz icon Django Reinhardt) who falls in love with a mute woman (Samantha Morton). The film also stars Uma Thurman and Anthony La Paglia.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_and_Lowdown)
05DEAD MAN WALKING (1995)
Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American crime drama film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, and directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name. It tells the story of Sister Helen Prejean, who establishes a special relationship with Matthew Poncelet (played by Sean Penn), a prisoner on death row in Louisiana.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man_Walking_%28film%29)
04I AM A SAM (2001)
I Am Sam (stylized i am sam) is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Jessie Nelson, and starring Sean Penn as a father with a developmental disability, Dakota Fanning as his inquisitive seven-year-old daughter, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his lawyer. Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine, Richard Schiff and Laura Dern appear in supporting roles. Jessie Nelson and Kristine Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay, researched the issues facing adults with developmental disabilities by visiting the non-profit organization L.A. Goal (Greater Opportunities for the Advanced Living). They subsequently cast two actors with disabilities, Brad Silverman and Joe Rosenberg, in key roles. For his role as Sam, Penn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Sam)
03MYSTIC RIVER (2003)
Mystic River is a 2003 American drama film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. The film was written by Brian Helgeland, based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Sean Penn won Best Actor and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor, making Mystic River the first film to win both awards since Ben-Hur in 1959.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_River_%28film%29)
02FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe, adapted from his 1981 book of the same name. As a freelance writer for Rolling Stone magazine, Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California, and wrote about his experiences.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Times_at_Ridgemont_High)
01MILK (2008)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as Dan White, a city supervisor who assassinated Milk. The film was released to much acclaim and earned numerous accolades from film critics and guilds. Ultimately, it received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning two for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Penn and Best Original Screenplay for Black.
(Source: wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_%28film%29)