American actor, film producer, and martial artist Wesley Snipes started his acting career in the 1980s with a one episode appearance on the soap opera All My Children (1984). His first film roles were both in 1986 in Wildcats and Streets of Gold. He then appeared as Willie Mays Hayes in the 1989 sports comedy film Major League with Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen. He had prominent roles in the 1990s, starring in the films: New Jack City with Ice-T (1991), Jungle Fever with Annabella Sciorra and Anthony Quinn (1991), White Men Can't Jump with Woody Harrelson (1992), Rising Sun with Sean Connery (1993), Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone (1993), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar with Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo (1995), and U.S. Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones (1998). Also in 1998, he was cast as Eric Brooks / Blade in the 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, most of them being direct-to-video before returning to the theatrical release, cast as Doctor "Doc" Death in the 2014 action film The Expendables 3 where he was reunited working with Sylvester Stallone. He teamed up with Eddie Murphy to co-star in the biographical comedy film Dolemite Is My Name as D'Urville Martin (2019) and the comedy film Coming 2 America (2021), as General Izzi.
His television work includes multiple episodes in drama series H.E.L.P. (1990), action thriller crime drama series The Player (2015), and drama limited series True Story (2021), opposite Kevin Hart.
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Wildcats | Trumaine | ||
| 1986 | Streets of Gold | Roland Jenkins | ||
| 1987 | Critical Condition | Ambulance Driver | Cameo | |
| 1989 | Major League | Willie Mays Hayes | ||
| 1990 | King of New York | Detective Thomas Flanigan | ||
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Shadow Henderson | ||
| 1991 | New Jack City | Nino Brown | ||
| 1991 | Jungle Fever | Flipper Purify | ||
| 1992 | The Waterdance | Raymond Hill | ||
| 1992 | White Men Can't Jump | Sidney "Syd" Deane | ||
| 1992 | Passenger 57 | Chief John Cutter | ||
| 1993 | Boiling Point | Agent Jimmy Mercer | ||
| 1993 | Rising Sun | Lieutenant Webster "Web" Smith | ||
| 1993 | Demolition Man | Simon Phoenix | ||
| 1993 | Sugar Hill | Romello "Rome" Skuggs | ||
| 1994 | Drop Zone | U.S. Marshal Pete Nessip | ||
| 1995 | To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar | Noxeema Jackson | ||
| 1995 | Money Train | Officer John Robinson | ||
| 1995 | Waiting to Exhale | James Wheeler | Uncredited cameo | |
| 1996 | The Fan | Bobby Rayburn | ||
| 1996 | John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk | None | Documentary film; executive producer only | |
| 1997 | Murder at 1600 | Detective Harlan Regis | ||
| 1997 | One Night Stand | Maximilian "Max" Carlyle | Limited release | |
| 1998 | U.S. Marshals | Mark J. Sheridan / Mark Roberts / Mark Warren | ||
| 1998 | The Big Hit | None | Producer only | |
| 1998 | Down in the Delta | Will Sinclair | Limited release; also producer | |
| 1998 | Blade | Eric Brooks / Blade | Also producer and martial arts choreographer | |
| 1999 | Play It to the Bone | Ringside Fan | Limited release; cameo | |
| 2000 | The Art of War | Agent Neil Shaw | Also executive producer | |
| 2002 | Liberty Stands Still | Agent Alex / Joe | Limited release; direct-to-video | |
| 2002 | Zig Zag | David "Dave" Fletcher | Limited release | |
| 2002 | Blade II | Eric Brooks / Blade | Also producer and fight coordinator | |
| 2002 | Undisputed | Monroe "Undisputed" Hutchens | Also executive producer | |
| 2004 | Unstoppable | Agent Dean Cage | Limited release; also producer | |
| 2004 | Blade: Trinity | Eric Brooks / Blade | Also producer | |
| 2005 | 7 Seconds | Jack Tulliver | Direct-to-video | |
| 2005 | The Marksman | Enter "The Marksman" Painter | Direct-to-video | |
| 2005 | Chaos | Lorenz / Jason York | Direct-to-video | |
| 2006 | The Detonator | Agent Sonni Griffith | Direct-to-video | |
| 2006 | Hard Luck | Lucky | Direct-to-video | |
| 2007 | The Contractor | Agent James Jackson Dial | Direct-to-video | |
| 2008 | The Art of War II: Betrayal | Agent Neil Shaw | Direct-to-video | |
| 2009 | Brooklyn's Finest | Casanova "Caz" Phillips | ||
| 2011 | Game of Death | Agent Marcus Jones | Direct-to-video | |
| 2012 | Revelations of the Mayans: 2012 and Beyond | None | Documentary film; executive producer only | |
| 2012 | Gallowwalkers | Aman | Direct-to-video | |
| 2014 | The Expendables 3 | Doctor "Doc" Death | ||
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Sean "Cyclops" Andrews | Limited release | |
| 2017 | The Recall | "The Hunter" | Limited release; also producer | |
| 2017 | Armed Response | Isaac | Direct-to-video; also producer | |
| 2019 | Dolemite Is My Name | D'Urville Martin | Limited release | |
| 2020 | Cut Throat City | Lawrence | Limited release | |
| 2021 | Coming 2 America | General Izzi | Streaming release | |
| 2023 | Back on the Strip | Luther "Mr. Big" | Limited release; also producer | |
| 2024 | Deadpool & Wolverine | Eric Brooks / Blade |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | All My Children | Marty | Episode: "Episode #1.3877" | |
| 1986 | Miami Vice | Silk | Episode: "Streetwise" | |
| 1987 | Vietnam War Story | Bookman | Episode: "An Old Ghost Walks the Earth" | |
| 1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Nicholas Murdock | 2 episodes | |
| 1989 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Hood | Episode: "Here's Why You Should Always Make Your Bed in the Morning" | |
| 1990 | H.E.L.P. | Officer Lou Barton | 6 episodes | |
| 1996 | America's Dream | George Du Vail | Television film | |
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | The Pied Piper | Episode: "The Pied Piper"; voice role | |
| 1998 | Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes | None | Television documentary film; executive producer only | |
| 1998 | Futuresport | Obike Fixx | Television film; also producer | |
| 2000 | Disappearing Acts | Franklin Swift | Television film; also executive producer | |
| 2001 | Dr. Ben | None | Television documentary film; executive producer only | |
| 2003 | The Bernie Mac Show | Duke | Episode: "Bernie Mac Rope-a-Dope" | |
| 2015 | The Player | Mr. Johnson | 9 episodes | |
| 2018 | Represent | Unknown | Episode: "Wesley Snipes Talks Blade and Black Panther" | |
| 2019 | What We Do in the Shadows | Wesley | Episode: "The Trial" | |
| 2021 | True Story | Carlton | 7 episodes | |
| 2023 | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | Maris Morlak | 2 episodes; voice role | |
| 2025 | Paper Empire | Damon Moore | 2 episodes; post-production |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Execution of Justice | Sister Boom Boom | Broadway |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Role | Performer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | "Bad" | Mini Max | Michael Jackson |
Soundtrack appearances
| Year | Title | Song | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Wildcats | "Football Rap (End Credits)" | Uncredited | |
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | "Pop Top 40" | ||
| 2015 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | "Fame" | Episode: "Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting/Wesley Snipes/Chris Cornell"; uncredited |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Demolition Man | Simon Phoenix | Live action full-motion video | |
| 2011 | Julius Styles: The International | Julius Styles |
References
- "19 Things You Might Not Have Realised About Wesley Snipes". May 15, 2019.
- Beaufort, John (March 24, 1986). "'Execution of Justice' echoes 1979 case. Pair of San Francisco crimes analyzed in courtroom drama". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 27, 2022.