Age: 63
male
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.
Blade is a 1998 superhero film directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, it is the first installment of the Blade franchise. The film stars Wesley Snipes as the titular character with Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and N'Bushe Wright in supporting roles. In the film, Blade is a Dhampir, a human with vampire strengths but not their weaknesses, who together with his mentor Abraham Whistler and hematologist Karen Jenson, fights against vampires, namely the exceptionally vicious Deacon Frost. Released on August 21, 1998, Blade was a commercial success, grossing $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $60.2 million worldwide. Despite mixed reviews from film critics, the film received a positive reception from audiences and has since garnered a cult following. It is also hailed as one of Snipes' signature roles. It was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, both written by Goyer who also directed the latter.
