Wesley Snipes

Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor.

Snipes auditioned and lobbied hard for the role of Leroy Green in the 1985 cult classic movie The Last Dragon, but the role was given to Taimak instead.

Snipes's performance in the music video "Bad" caught the eye of director Spike Lee.

Snipes turned down a small role in Lee's Do the Right Thing for the larger part of Willie Mays Hayes in Major League, beginning a succession of box-office hits for Snipes.

Lee would later cast Snipes as the jazz saxophonist Shadow Henderson in Mo' Better Blues and as the lead in the interracial romance drama Jungle Fever.

After the success of Jungle Fever, The Washington Post described Snipes as "the most celebrated new actor of the season".

He then played Thomas Flanagan in King of New York opposite Christopher Walken.

He played the drug lord Nino Brown in New Jack City, which was written specifically for him by Barry Michael Cooper.

He made his film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats.

Later that year, he appeared on the TV show Miami Vice as a drug-dealing pimp in the episode "Streetwise" (first aired December 5, 1986).

In 1987, he appeared as Michael Jackson's nemesis in the Martin Scorsese–directed music video "Bad" and the feature film Streets of Gold.

That same year, Snipes was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the role eventually went to LeVar Burton.

He also starred in such successful comedies as Major League (1989), White Men Can't Jump (1992), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), and Coming 2 America (2021).

Snipes has starred in numerous action-adventures, thrillers, and dramatic feature films such as New Jack City (1991), Jungle Fever (1991), Passenger 57 (1992), Rising Sun (1993), Demolition Man (1993), Drop Zone (1994), U.S. Marshals (1998), The Expendables 3 (2014), and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004), in the title role.

He formed a production company, Amen-Ra Films, in 1991, and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television.

Snipes 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).

He also played a drug dealer in the 1994 film Sugar Hill.

Snipes has played a number of roles in action films, including Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone), Drop Zone, Money Train, The Fan, U.S. Marshals and The Art of War, as well as comedies like White Men Can't Jump, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar where he played a drag queen.

Snipes has appeared in additional dramas, such as The Waterdance and Disappearing Acts.

In 1997, Snipes won the Best Actor Volpi Cup at the 54th Venice Film Festival for his performance in New Line Cinema's One Night Stand.

In 1998, Snipes had his largest commercial success with Blade, appearing in the title role, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.

Blade has grossed over $150 million worldwide.

The film spawned a franchise.

He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an honorary doctorate in humanities and fine arts from his alma mater, SUNY/Purchase.

In 2004, Snipes reprised his role in the third film, Blade: Trinity, which he also produced.

In 2005, Snipes sued New Line Cinema and David S. Goyer, the film's studio and director, respectively.

He claimed that the studio did not pay his full salary, that he was intentionally cut out of casting decisions, and that his character's screen time was reduced in favor of co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel.

The suit was later settled, but no details were released.

Snipes was originally slated to play one of the four leads in Spike Lee's 2008 war film Miracle at St. Anna but had to leave the film due to tax problems; his role eventually went to Derek Luke.

He 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.

Many of his action films have featured martial arts.

Snipes later appeared in The Contractor, filmed in Bulgaria and the UK, Gallowwalkers, released in 2012, and Game of Death.

In television, he appeared on The Player (2015).

In 2017, Snipes made his debut as a novelist with the urban fantasy supernatural adventure Talon of God.

Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of Marian (née Long), a teacher's assistant, and Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer.

He grew up in the Bronx, New York.

He attended the High School of Performing Arts of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts but moved back to Florida before he could graduate.

After graduating from Jones High School in Orlando, Snipes returned to New York and attended the State University of New York at Purchase, from which he received a bachelor's degree in fine arts.

Snipes also attended Southwestern College in California.

At the age of 23, Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition.