Wesley Snipes

Profile Overview

Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, martial artist, author, and film producer. In a film career spanning more than forty years, Snipes has appeared 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). Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3.6 billion worldwide.
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 / Blade 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).
From the mid-2000s, Snipes appeared in direct-to-video films before returning to theatrical releases with films such as Brooklyn's Finest (2009) and The Expendables 3 (2014). His television work includes the drama series H.E.L.P. (1990), the action series The Player (2015), and the 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 5th dan black belt in Shotokan karate and 2nd dan black belt in Hapkido. He is credited with helping popularize 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 Talon of God.