Wesley Snipes
- Acting
- July 31, 1962 · Orlando, Florida, USA
Biography
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. Snipes has made films in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, though he is best known for his action films. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work in The Waterdance (1992) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film One Night Stand (1997). Born in Florida, Snipes had notable parts in the comedy film Major League (1989), the drama Mo' Better Blues (1990), and the crime drama King of New York (1990) before gaining prominence by playing a drug lord in the crime drama New Jack City (1991). He subsequently received more attention for the drama film Jungle Fever (1991), the sports comedy White Men Can't Jump (1992), and the action film Passenger 57 (1992). He has since starred in various genres, such as the comedy film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), the thriller The Fan (1996), and the drama film Down in the Delta (1998), but mostly established himself as an action star, portraying both heroes and villains in films such as Demolition Man (1993), Rising Sun (1993), Money Train (1995), and U.S. Marshals (1998). Also in 1998, he was cast as Eric Brooks/BBlade in the superhero 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 and moved to direct-to-video action films before returning to the theatrical release with films such as Brooklyn's Finest (2009) and The Expendables 3 (2014). His television work includes multiple episodes in the drama series H.E.L.P. (1990), the action thriller crime drama series The Player (2015), and the drama limited series True Story (2021), as well as the romantic drama film Disappearing Acts (2000). He formed a production company, Amen-Ra Films, in 1991, and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television. Snipes has been training in martial arts since the age of 12, earning a 5thdan black belt in Shotokan karate and a 2nddan black belt in Hapkido. He is credited with helping popularise martial arts in Hollywood and bringing martial arts to mainstream audiences, as well as contributing to the representation of Black actors in action roles, breaking stereotypes. In 2017, Snipes made his debut as a novelist with the urban fantasy supernatural adventure Talon of God. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wesley Snipes, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Filmography
- Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Deadpool & Wolverine · Self
- Deadpool & Wolverine · Blade
- Where's Usher? · Leslie Snipes
- Back on the Strip · Luther 'Mr. Big', Producer
- Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur · Morlak (Voice)
- True Story · Carlton
- Coming 2 America · General Izzi
- Cut Throat City · Lawrence
- Dolemite Is My Name · D’Urville Martin
- What We Do in the Shadows · Wesley
- Basketball: A Love Story · Self
- Armed Response · Isaac, Producer
- The Recall · The Hunter, Producer
- Forensic Justice · Self
- Chi-Raq · Sean 'Cyclops' Andrews
- The Player · Mr. Johnson
- The Making of The Expendables 3 · Self
- Do The Right Thing 25 Year Anniversary A Beats Music Experience · Self
- The Expendables 3 · Doc
- Late Night with Seth Meyers · Self
- Gallowwalkers · Aman
- Game of Death · Agent Marcus
- Conan · Self
- 2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift · (archive footage)
- Brooklyn's Finest · Casanova 'Caz' Phillips
- The Art of War II: Betrayal · Neil Shaw
- The Contractor · James Dial
- Hard Luck · Lucky
- The Detonator · Sonni Griffith
- The Marksman · Painter
- 7 Seconds · Jack Tuliver
- Nightstalkers, Daywalkers, and Familiars: Inside the World of Blade Trinity · Self
- Chaos · Lorenz / Jason York
- Blade: Trinity · Blade, Producer
- Unstoppable · Dean Cage
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! · Self
- The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' · Self
- Undisputed · Monroe Hutchen, Executive producer
- Zig Zag · Dave Fletcher
- Blade II · Blade, Producer
- Liberty Stands Still · Joe
- The Bernie Mac Show · Duke
- Disappearing Acts · Franklin Swift, Executive producer
- The Art of War · Neil Shaw, Executive producer
- Play It to the Bone · Wesley Snipes (Ringside Fan)
- Futuresport · Obike Fixx, Producer
- Down in the Delta · Will Sinclair, Producer
- Vivement dimanche · Self
- Blade · Blade, Producer
- Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes · Self
- Jackie Chan: My Story · Thanks
- The Big Hit · Producer
- U.S. Marshals · Sheridan
- One Night Stand · Max Carlyle
- The View · Self
- Murder at 1600 · Detective Harlan Regis
- John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk · Narrator
- Jackie Chan - From Stuntman to Superstar · Self
- The Fan · Bobby Rayburn
- America's Dream · George Du Vaul (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")
- Waiting to Exhale · James Wheeler (uncredited)
- Money Train · John
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar · Noxeema Jackson
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child · The Pied Piper (Voice)
- Drop Zone · Pete Nessip
- Sugar Hill · Romello Skuggs
- Demolition Man · Simon Phoenix
- Hardwood Dreams · Narrator
- Rising Sun · Lt. Webster Smith
- Boiling Point · Jimmy Mercer
- The Real Malcolm X
- Passenger 57 · John Cutter
- HBO First Look
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno · Self
- The Waterdance · Raymond Hill
- White Men Can't Jump · Sidney Deane
- Sous les marches du palais · Self
- Jungle Fever · Flipper Purify
- New Jack City · Nino Brown
- Mo' Better Blues · Shadow Henderson (Sax)