Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes

Born 1962-07-31 (age 63) Orlando, Florida, USA
View on IMDb ↗

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.

Photos

Known For

Deadpool & Wolverine
Blade
Blade

1998

as Blade

Blade II
Blade II

2002

as Blade

The Expendables 3
Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity

2004

as Eric Brooks / Blade

Demolition Man
Demolition Man

1993

as Simon Phoenix

New Jack City
New Jack City

1991

as Nino Brown

Undisputed
Undisputed

2002

as Monroe Hutchen

Chaos
Chaos

2005

as Lorenz / Jason York

Coming 2 America
Coming 2 America

2021

as General Izzi

U.S. Marshals
U.S. Marshals

1998

as Sheridan

The Contractor
The Contractor

2007

as James Dial

Passenger 57
Passenger 57

1992

as John Cutter

Rising Sun
Rising Sun

1993

as Lt. Webster Smith

White Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump

1992

as Sidney Deane

King of New York
King of New York

1990

as Thomas Flanigan

The Art of War
The Art of War

2000

as Neil Shaw

The Fan
The Fan

1996

as Bobby Rayburn

Major League
Major League

1989

as Willie Mays Hayes