List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn

Sean Penn awards and nominations

Penn at the New York Film Festival in 2013
Awards and nominations Award Wins Nominations Academy Awards 2 5 BAFTA Awards 0 3 Critics' Choice Awards 3 6 Emmy Awards 0 1 Golden Globes 1 5 Grammy Awards 0 1 SAG Awards 1 6
Totals [a]
Wins	16
Nominations	42
Note Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

This article is a List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn

Sean Penn is an American actor, director and producer. He has earned acclaim for his intense broody roles in dramatic films. Over his career he has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Critics' Choice Awards a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Award. In 2015 he received an Honorary César.

Penn's early roles include the teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), the crime drama Bad Boys (1983), and the war drama Casualties of War (1989). He earned the Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in Hurlyburly (1989). He played a sleazy lawyer in the Brian de Palma crime drama Carlito's Way (1993) which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of a killer on death row in the Tim Robbins crime drama Dead Man Walking (1995) earning him the Silver Bear for Best Actor as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role.

For his role in the Nick Cassavettes romantic drama She's So Lovely (1997) he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He earned further Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his performances as a jazz guitarist in Woody Allen's romance Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and a mentally challenged man in Jessie Nelson's drama I Am Sam (2001). He won his second Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in the Alejandro González Iñárritu crime thriller 21 Grams (2003). That same year, he played a grieving father in the Clint Eastwood drama Mystic River (2003) for which he won the Academy Awards for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama as well as nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role.

Penn directed the adventure drama Into the Wild (2007) for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film. The following year, he portrayed gay rights activist Harvey Milk in the Gus Van Sant political drama Milk (2008), for which he received his second Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role with nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.

Major associations

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1996	Best Actor	Dead Man Walking	Nominated	[1]
2000		Sweet and Lowdown	Nominated	[2]
2002		I Am Sam	Nominated	[3]
2004		Mystic River	Won	[4]
2009		Milk	Won	[5]

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2004	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Mystic River	Nominated	[6]
		21 Grams	Nominated
2009		Milk	Nominated	[7]

Critics' Choice Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
2001	Best Actor	I Am Sam	Nominated	[8]
2003		Mystic River	Won	[9]
2007	Best Director	Into the Wild	Nominated	[10]
	Best Writer		Nominated
2008	Best Actor	Milk	Won	[11]
	Best Acting Ensemble		Won
2011	Joel Siegel Award		Honored	[12]

Emmy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
News & Documentary Emmy Awards
2024	Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary	Superpower	Nominated	[13]

Golden Globe Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1994	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Carlito's Way	Nominated	[14]
1996	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Dead Man Walking	Nominated	[14]
2000	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Sweet and Lowdown	Nominated	[14]
2004	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Mystic River	Won	[14]
2009		Milk	Nominated	[14]

Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2006	Best Spoken World Album	Bob Dylan: Chronicles	Nominated	[15]

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1996	Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role	Dead Man Walking	Nominated	[16]
2002		I Am Sam	Nominated	[17]
2004	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Mystic River	Nominated	[18]
	Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated
2009	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Milk	Nominated	[19]
	Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role		Won

Other awards and nominations

Organizations	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival	1995	Silver Bear for Best Actor	Dead Man Walking	Won	[20]
	2022	Berlinale Documentary Award	Superpower	Nominated	[20]
Cannes Film Festival	1997	Best Actor	She's So Lovely	Won	[20]
	2001	Palme d'Or	The Pledge	Nominated	[20]
	2016		The Last Face	Nominated	[20]
	2021		Flag Day	Nominated	[20]
César Awards	2003	Best European Union Film	September 11	Nominated	[20]
	2009	Best Foreign Film	Into the Wild	Nominated	[20]
	2015	Honorary César		Honored	[21]
Directors Guild of America Awards	2007	Outstanding Directing – Feature Film	Into the Wild	Nominated	[22]
Independent Spirit Awards	1995	Best Male Lead	Dead Man Walking	Won	[23]
	1998		Hurlyburly	Won	[24]
	2003	Special Distinction Award	21 Grams	Won	[25]
	2008	Best Male Lead	Milk	Nominated	[26]
Venice International Film Festival	1995	Golden Lion	The Crossing Guard	Nominated	[20]
	1998	Volpi Cup for Best Actor	Hurlyburly	Won	[27]
	2002	UNESCO Award	September 11	Won	[20]
	2003	Volpi Cup for Best Actor	21 Grams	Won	[28]

Honorary awards

Organizations	Year	Award	Result	Ref.
BAFTA\LA Britannia Award	2008	Stanley Kubrick Excellence in Film Award	Honored	[29]
César Awards	2015	Honorary César	Honored	[30]
Critics' Choice Awards	2011	Joel Siegel Award	Honored	[31]
Hollywood Film Awards	2011	Humanitarian Award	Honored
Producers Guild of America Award	2011	Stanley Kramer Award	Honored	[32]
San Francisco International Film Festival	1999	Peter J. Owens Award	Honored	[33]
San Sebastian International Film Festival	2003	Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award	Honored	[34]
Television Academy	2022	Bob Hope Humanitarian Award	Honored	[35]
Zurich Film Festival	2011	Golden Icon Award	Honored	[36]

See also

• Sean Penn filmography

References

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2. "The 72nd Academy Awards". Oscars.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
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5. "The 81st Academy Awards". Oscars.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
6. "57th British Academy Film Awards". awards.bafta.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
7. "62nd British Academy Film Awards". awards.bafta.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
8. "Critics' Choice Awards (2001)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
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10. "Critics' Choice Awards (2007)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
11. "Critics' Choice Awards (2008)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
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13. "Superpower (2023) - Awards". Imdb. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
14. "Sean Penn - Golden Globe Awards". Golden Globe Awards . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
15. "Sean Penn - Artist". Recording Academy . Retrieved June 20, 2025.
16. "The 2nd Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
17. "The 8th Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
18. "The 10th Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
19. "The 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards". sagawards.org . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
20. "Sean Penn - Awards". IMDB . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
21. "Sean Penn Set to Receive Honorary Cesar Award in France". Variety. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
22. "DGA Award Nominees". Variety. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
23. "Film Independent Spirit Awards (1995)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
24. "Film Independent Spirit Awards (1998)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
25. "Film Independent Spirit Awards (2003)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
26. "FIlm Independent Spirit Awards (2008)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
27. "Beatty and Penn Win Awards in Venice". Empire Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
28. "Celebrity Circuit". CBS News . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
29. "Sean Penn to receive BAFTA/LA's Stanley Kubrick Award". ScreenDaily. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
30. "Sean Penn Set to Receive Honorary Cesar Award in France". Variety. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
31. "Sean Penn to Receive the Joel Siegel Award at the Critics Choice Movie Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
32. "Producers Guild To Honor Sean Penn". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved June 20, 2025.
33. "50: SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL / Did Nicolas Cage snub Sean Penn, or vice versa?". SFGate. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
34. "In brief: San Sebastian honours Sean Penn". The Guardian . Retrieved June 20, 2025.
35. "Sean Penn receives the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award". Television Academy . Retrieved June 20, 2025.
36. "Zurich Film Festival Picks Sean Penn for its 2011 Golden Icon Award". IndieWire . Retrieved June 20, 2025.