---
name: "Wesley Snipes"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/wesley-snipes"
fi1m_id: "wesley-snipes"
imdb_id: "nm0000648"
tmdb_id: 10814
wikidata_id: "Q189694"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "31 July 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 71
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-04T23:11:37.030799+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Wesley Snipes

## Identity

Wesley Snipes

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/wesley-snipes
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** wesley-snipes
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000648
- **TMDB ID:** 10814
- **Wikidata ID:** Q189694
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Snipes, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189694, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000648/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10814

Actor. Born 31 July 1962 in Orlando, Florida, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 31 July 1962, Orlando, Florida, USA
- **Active:** 1984–present
- **Also known as:** Wesley Trent Snipes
- **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 81 (1), 1990s 71 (3), 2020s 60 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 68 to 62 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Action 3, Crime 3, Science Fiction 2, Comedy 1, Drama 1, Horror 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,631m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Snipes, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189694, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000648/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10814

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*King of New York*](https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york.md) (70)
- **Disney+:** [*Deadpool & Wolverine*](https://film.one/film/deadpool-and-wolverine.md) (60)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Wesley Snipes

> Wesley Snipes makes action convincing through stillness as much as movement. We rate his physical control, but the comic timing and glimpses of vulnerability make us wish he were given more to do between fights.

In the nightclub opening of *Blade* (1998), Wesley Snipes can stand still and remain the person worth watching. Stephen Norrington gives him the speed and aggression of an action film inside a vampire horror film, and Snipes makes the combination convincing. We were thrilled because his control and the weight of the stunt work made the bloodshed feel physical in a way the digital effects could not. It is a good action performance in a film that does not always know what to do with it.

That control can obscure how much else he has to offer. The early 1990s put him in Spike Lee's *Mo' Better Blues* (1990) and *Jungle Fever* (1991), before action leads such as *Passenger 57* (1992) came to define his place on a poster. His breakthrough as drug lord Nino Brown in *New Jack City* (1991) sits beside Sidney Deane in the sports comedy *White Men Can't Jump* (1992). The comic timing in the latter is reason enough not to treat the action films as the whole job.

Even *Blade* needs more of him than its screenplay knows how to use. David S. Goyer supplies too much explanation and too few opportunities for Snipes to explore the cost of being half-vampire. Snipes does find vulnerability, which makes the script's preference for another explanation more frustrating. We wanted longer with that vulnerability and less instruction in how vampires work. His martial arts training makes the fighting credible, but there is enough feeling here to want more time with Blade when he is not fighting.

The later comedy in *Dolemite Is My Name* (2019), with Snipes as D’Urville Martin, is a useful reminder of the actor beyond the action roles. His return as Blade in *Deadpool & Wolverine* (2024) asks much less of him. The appearance trades on recognition, with little room for him to do anything beyond it. In a film already funny in patches and tiring in stretches, giving him so little to play is another frustration. Start with *Blade*, but do not mistake the economy of that performance for a reason to give him less to do.

## Biography

Wesley Snipes is an American actor. Born in Orlando, Florida, he trained at the High School of Performing Arts in New York and graduated with a BFA from SUNY Purchase. He began his career in theatre and early film roles before gaining attention in the late 1980s.

Snipes is known for performances in *New Jack City* (1991), *White Men Can't Jump* (1992), *Demolition Man* (1993) and the *Blade* trilogy (1998–2004), in which he played the title character. He returned to the role in *Deadpool & Wolverine* (2024). Other credits include *U.S. Marshals* (1998) and *Dolemite Is My Name* (2019). He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for *The Waterdance* (1992) and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for *One Night Stand* (1997). He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998.

*Sources: imdb.com, hollywoodreporter.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Deadpool & Wolverine* (2024), Fi1m 60, as Blade — [page](https://film.one/film/deadpool-and-wolverine.md)
- *Blade* (1998), Fi1m 76, as Blade — [page](https://film.one/film/blade.md)
- *Demolition Man* (1993), Fi1m 68, as Simon Phoenix — [page](https://film.one/film/demolition-man.md)
- *King of New York* (1990), Fi1m 70, as Thomas Flanigan — [page](https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york.md)
- *Miami Vice* (1984), Fi1m 81, as Silk — [page](https://film.one/tv/miami-vice.md)

## Complete filmography (73)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Deadpool & Wolverine* (2024), as Blade — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/deadpool-and-wolverine.md)
- *Where's Usher?* (2024), as Leslie Snipes
- *Back on the Strip* (2023), as Luther 'Mr. Big' · Producer
- *Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur* (2023), series, as Morlak (voice)
- *True Story* (2021), series, as Carlton
- *Coming 2 America* (2021), as General Izzi
- *Cut Throat City* (2020), as Lawrence
- *Dolemite Is My Name* (2019), as D’Urville Martin
- *What We Do in the Shadows* (2019), series, as Wesley
- *Armed Response* (2017), as Isaac · Producer
- *The Recall* (2017), as The Hunter · Producer
- *Chi-Raq* (2015), as Sean 'Cyclops' Andrews
- *The Player* (2015), series, as Mr. Johnson
- *The Expendables 3* (2014), as Doc
- *Gallowwalkers* (2012), as Aman
- *Game of Death* (2011), as Agent Marcus
- *2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift* (2010), as (archive footage)
- *Brooklyn's Finest* (2010), as Casanova 'Caz' Phillips
- *The Art of War II: Betrayal* (2008), as Neil Shaw
- *The Contractor* (2007), as James Dial
- *Hard Luck* (2006), as Lucky
- *The Detonator* (2006), as Sonni Griffith
- *The Marksman* (2005), as Painter
- *7 Seconds* (2005), as Jack Tuliver
- *Chaos* (2005), as Lorenz / Jason York
- *Blade: Trinity* (2004), as Eric Brooks / Blade · Producer
- *Unstoppable* (2004), as Dean Cage
- *Undisputed* (2002), as Monroe Hutchen · Executive Producer
- *Zig Zag* (2002), as Dave Fletcher
- *Blade II* (2002), as Blade · Producer
- *Liberty Stands Still* (2002), as Joe
- *The Bernie Mac Show* (2001), series, as Duke
- *Disappearing Acts* (2000), as Franklin Swift · Executive Producer
- *The Art of War* (2000), as Neil Shaw · Executive Producer
- *Play It to the Bone* (1999), as Wesley Snipes (Ringside Fan)
- *Futuresport* (1999), as Obike Fixx · Producer
- *Down in the Delta* (1998), as Will Sinclair · Producer
- *Blade* (1998), as Blade · Producer, Martial Arts Choreographer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/blade.md)
- *Jackie Chan: My Story* (1998), Thanks
- *The Big Hit* (1998), Producer
- *U.S. Marshals* (1998), as Sheridan
- *One Night Stand* (1997), as Max Carlyle
- *Murder at 1600* (1997), as Detective Harlan Regis
- *John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk* (1996), as Narrator
- *The Fan* (1996), as Bobby Rayburn
- *America's Dream* (1996), as George Du Vaul (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")
- *Waiting to Exhale* (1995), as James Wheeler (uncredited)
- *Money Train* (1995), as John
- *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar* (1995), as Noxeema Jackson
- *Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child* (1995), series, as The Pied Piper (voice)
- *Drop Zone* (1994), as Pete Nessip
- *Sugar Hill* (1994), as Romello Skuggs
- *Demolition Man* (1993), as Simon Phoenix — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/demolition-man.md)
- *Hardwood Dreams* (1993), as Narrator
- *Rising Sun* (1993), as Lt. Webster Smith
- *Boiling Point* (1993), as Jimmy Mercer
- *The Real Malcolm X* (1992), Actor
- *Passenger 57* (1992), as John Cutter
- *HBO First Look* (1992), series, Actor
- *The Waterdance* (1992), as Raymond Hill
- *White Men Can't Jump* (1992), as Sidney Deane
- *Jungle Fever* (1991), as Flipper Purify
- *New Jack City* (1991), as Nino Brown
- *Mo' Better Blues* (1990), as Shadow Henderson (Sax)
- *King of New York* (1990), as Thomas Flanigan — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york.md)
- *H.E.L.P.* (1990), series, as Lou Barton
- *Major League* (1989), as Willie Mays Hayes
- *The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd* (1987), series, as Hood
- *Critical Condition* (1987), as Ambulance Driver
- *Streets of Gold* (1986), as Roland Jenkins
- *Wildcats* (1986), as Trumaine
- *Miami Vice* (1984), series, as Silk — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/miami-vice.md)
- *Outbreak Z*, as Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![Wesley Snipes](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-e57b6bae0dde.jpg) Wesley Snipes — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Wesley_Snipes_%2841969097750%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Wesley_Snipes_%2841969097750%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Collage of famous action heroes (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-44d47176b372.png) Collage of famous action heroes (2010) — Self made based upon work by the authors shown above, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Action_hero_montage.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![actors Titus Welliver, Wesley Snipes, Laurence Fishburne and Bill Duke, along with a guest, pose for a picture on the Red Carpet during “Excelsior! A Celebratio (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-4f13686be977.jpg) actors Titus Welliver, Wesley Snipes, Laurence Fishburne and Bill Duke, along with a guest, pose for a picture on the Red Carpet during “Excelsior! A Celebratio (2019) — U.S. Army Photo by: Dena O'Dell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Actors_tribute_to_Stan_Lee.jpg/1280px-Actors_tribute_to_Stan_Lee.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Shameik Moore, Kat Graham and Wesley Snipes speaking at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Cut Throat City", at the San Diego Convention Center in](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-70fcd184e95a.jpg) Shameik Moore, Kat Graham and Wesley Snipes speaking at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Cut Throat City", at the San Diego Convention Center in — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Shameik_Moore%2C_Kat_Graham_%26_Wesley_Snipes_%2842873727415%29.jpg/1280px-Shameik_Moore%2C_Kat_Graham_%26_Wesley_Snipes_%2842873727415%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Wesley Snipes](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-24982c5940fd.jpg) Wesley Snipes — Image via TMDB
- ![Wesley Snipes](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-a5702331de8b.jpg) Wesley Snipes — Image via TMDB
- ![Wesley Snipes](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-3601514c737f.jpg) Wesley Snipes — Image via TMDB
- ![Wesley Snipes attend the German premiere of the film "The Expendables 3" at Residenz cinema on August 6, 2014 in Cologne, Germany.](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-7da1f3d5757c.jpg) Wesley Snipes attend the German premiere of the film "The Expendables 3" at Residenz cinema on August 6, 2014 in Cologne, Germany. — Michael Schilling, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Wesley-Snipes-2014-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Wesley Snipes attend the German premiere of the film "The Expendables 3" at Residenz cinema on August 6, 2014 in Cologne, Germany.](https://film.one/media/person/11199/gallery-f464e21fef36.jpg) Wesley Snipes attend the German premiere of the film "The Expendables 3" at Residenz cinema on August 6, 2014 in Cologne, Germany. — Michael Schilling, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Wesley-Snipes-2014-2.jpg/1280px-Wesley-Snipes-2014-2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Volpi Cup for Best Actor 1997: Volpi Cup for Best Actor (won), for *One Night Stand*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/wesley-snipes