Blades
Background:
“I have a great deal of fun playing Blade. The lifestyle of it, the controlled
rebelliousness, is wonderful to me. And it's therapeutic, too. A role like this
lets you vent.” Wesley Snipes
African-American actor and producer Wesley Snipes is perhaps best known for his
role as the eponymous vampire hunter in the movie Blade (1998), and its
continuations in 2000 and in 2004. Initially making an impression as a thug in
the Scorsese-directed video for Michael Jackson’s Bad (1987), Snipes gained even
more recognition for his brilliant performance of the fierce drug lord
antagonist Nino Brown in Mario Van Peebles’ New Jack City (1991), for which he
picked up a NAACP Image Award. A versatile actor, Snipes also received acclaim
for his bright dramatic portrayal of untrustworthy husband Carlyle in One Night
Stand (1997). Due to his outstanding performance, Snipes was awarded the Best
Actor Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival.
Snipes was also well-remembered for playing various roles in films such as the
comedy Major League (1989), Abel Ferrara’s King of New York (1990), the drama
Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991), the drama The
Waterdance (1992), the hit White Men Can’t Jump (1992), the box office action
smash hit Passenger 57 (1992), Rising Sun (1993), Demolition Man (1993, with Sly
Stallone), To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), and the drama
The Fan (1996, opposite Robert De Niro), among others. Fans can also catch him
in the recent and upcoming The Art of War (2000), Liberty Stands Still (2002),
ZigZag (2002), Unstoppable (2004), Chaos (2005), Razor's Edge (2006) and The
Hard Corps (2006). Snipes will also add Chasing the Dragon and Hard Luck to his
acting resume.
On the small screen, Snipes drew praise after having a guest starring role in
“Vietnam War Story: An Old Ghost Walks the Earth” (1988), where he took home a
1989 Cable ACE Award. His later role of George Du Vaul in the TV movie America's
Dream (1996) garnered the actor a second NAACP Image Award in 1997.
Off screen, Snipes was named one of John Willis’ Screen World “12 Promising New
Actors of 1990” and was one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in
the World” in 1991. Recently, Snipes was arrested at the Johannesburg
International Airport for allegedly trying to pass through the airport with a
forged South African passport. But he was later permitted to return home because
he had a valid U.S. passport. Unfortunately, as a result of the incident, the
South African authorities reduced his immigration status to disagreeable. In
2004, Snipes drew headlines for being the subject of a paternity suit by an
Indiana woman named Lanise Pettis. Pettis revealed that she and Snipes had sex
in a Chicago crack house in 2000 and that Snipes had fathered a child with her.
Snipes, however, denied the allegations. In 2003, he was also publicly accused
by R&B singer Christopher Williams of abusing actress Halle Berry during the
early 1990s. Williams stated, “The stuff they wrote about (me) and Halle was
totally false. They said something like I busted her eardrum, and I’m tired of
it. I never said it (before) but I’m so tired of people thinking I’m the guy
(who did it). Wesley Snipes busted her eardrum, not me.”
Martial Arts Admirer
Childhood and Family:
Born in Orlando, Florida, on July 31, 1962, Wesley Snipes grew up on the streets
of the South Bronx in New York City.
Unaffected by his rough background, Wesley realized acting was his dream at a
very young age. Young Wesley began pursuing his calling by attending the
prestigious High School for the Performing Arts, but he was soon forced to throw
away his dreams due to his parents’ separation. He, with his mom Marian,
relocated back to his home town before he could graduate from high school.
Wesley attended and graduated from Jones High School in Orlando, Florida. While
in Florida, he appeared in local diner theaters and regional productions. Wesley
furthered studied at the State University of New York at Purchase and earned a
Bachelors of Fine Arts’ degree in 1985.
“I don't understand the mandate of being together forever. The idea that you
should do that is wrong. It makes us slaves to a societal mandate. You can still
love, but it doesn't mean you have to be tethered to the flesh.” Wesley Snipes
on marriage
Wesley once tied the knot with a woman named April in 1985, but they divorced in
1990. Wesley and April share one child, a son named Jelani Asar Snipes (born in
1988). After the breakup, Snipes began a new relationship with Korea-born artist
Nakyung “Nikki” Park, with whom he has two children, a son born in 2000 and a
daughter named Iset (born in July 2001). The couple eventually married in March
2003. Wesley welcomed his fourth child, a son born in 2004, with his wife Nikki.
A longtime martial arts enthusiast, Snipes is a 5th Degree Black Belt and
practices Brazilian martial arts called Capoeira. His hobbies include martial
arts, motorcycles and web surfing.
New Jack City
Career:
Orlando native Wesley Snipes decided theater was his true calling as a child. He
took drama lessons and was one of the proud pupils of an elite acting academy in
New York. Unfortunately, his dreams of the musical theater washed out before
they could blossom. He had to move back to Orlando following the divorce of his
parents. After graduating from a high school in Orlando, Snipes developed his
mounting love for acting by co-founding a street theater troupe named Struttin’
Street Stuff. He also performed in a production of “The Wiz” with Theatre on the
Park, Dinner Theatre in Orlando, as well as in the East Harlem production of
“The Me Nobody Knows.” Upon receiving a Bachelors of Fine Arts’ degree, Snipes
landed some modeling gigs for such products as Coca-Cola and Levi's 501 jeans
while searching for stage work. In 1985, he made his Broadway debut in the
Vietnam drama “The Boys of Winter” (1985). Spotted by an agent while joining an
acting competition, Snipes soon got his first film role in the football flick
Wildcats (1986, starring Goldie Hawn).
After his debut performance, Snipes appeared in the 1986 Streets of Gold and the
1987 Critical Condition, but it was a performance in Michael Jackson’s extremely
popular video Bad (1987) that delivered a first break for the aspiring actor.
Snipes’ talent also wooed critics when he guest starred in “Vietnam War Story”
in the episode of “An Old Ghost Walks the Earth” (1988), for which he nabbed a
Cable Ace for Actor in a Dramatic Series. This was followed by his notable
appearance in the baseball comedy Major League (1989) and Abel Ferrara’s King of
New York (1990). Snipes also received his first regular role in the short-lived
cop series H.E.L.P (1990).
Catching the eye of director Spike Lee due to his vigorous performance in the
1987 video Bad, Snipes had a chance to work with him in Lee’s drama/musical Mo’
Better Blues (1990), which put Snipes on top billing opposite the director
himself and Denzel Washington. However, it was 1991 that marked Snipes’
groundbreaking year because of his memorable performances in two films. He was
first perfectly cast as merciless drug lord Nino Brown in Mario Van Peebles’ New
Jack City (1991), in which he garnered a NAACP Image for Outstanding Lead Actor
in a Motion Picture. Snipes next played Flipper Purify, the middleclass
architect who was romantically involved with a white woman in Lee’s Jungle Fever
(1991). The victory of New Jack City and Jungle Fever subsequently made him a
star.
Foremost roles kept on coming in the following years. Snipes played paraplegic
Raymond Hill in the modest drama The Waterdance (1992) and scored a blockbuster
smash with Ron Shelton’s White Men Can’t Jump (1992), alongside Wildcat costar
Woody Harelson. Venturing to the action genre, Snipes received offers to star as
John Cutter in the big budget film Passenger 57 (1992). The film became a hit.
Snipes then portrayed trustworthy federal agent Jimmy Mercer in Boiling Point
(1993), costarred with Sean Connery in the big screen adaptation of Michael
Crichton’s novel Rising Sun (1993), starred as futuristic villain Simon Phoenix,
opposite Sylvester Stallone, in Demolition Man (1993), played Roemello Skuggs in
the hauntingly somber movie Sugar Hill (1994) and was cast as a US Marshall on
the trail of a team of renegade stunt skydivers in the action opus Drop Zone
(1994).
In the mid 1990s, Snipes also tried his hand as a voice actor. He lent his voice
for the animated TV series “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child” in
1995 before returning to the action vein with To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything,
Julie Newmar (1995), opposite Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo. Snipes rejoined
Harrelson for the 1995 Money Train and made a cameo as a smooth-talking married
man who attempts to pick up Angela Bassett in a bar in the popular female
bonding drama Waiting to Exhale (1995).
In 1996, Snipes returned to television to star as George Du Vaul in the
made-for-TV movie America's Dream. His brilliant acting again handed him a NAACP
Image for Best Actor in a TV Movie/Series. The same year, Snipes could also be
seen as baseball player Bobby Rayburn, beleaguered by the neurotic Robert De
Niro, in The Fan (1996) and as DC detective Harlan Regis in Murder at 1600
(1996).
Snipes again attracted the attention of the public when he displayed his
dramatic skills in One Night Stand (1997), where he was cast as adulterous
husband Max Carlyle, alongside Nastassja Kinski. His bravura acting won praise
as well as a Venice Film Festival for the Best Actor Volpi Cup.
After appearing as Tommy Lee Jones’s quarry in U.S Marshalls (1998), Snipes
starred as a superhero hunting and slaughtering evil vampires in Blade (1998).
Also in 1998, Snipes executive produced and narrated the documentary “John
Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk” (1996), and served as one of the
producers and stars in Maya Angelou’s directorial debut Down in the Delta. He
also made his network TV debut as an executive producer and actor in the ABC
sci-fi movie Futuresport (1998). Moreover, Snipes produced Che-Kirk Wong’s The
Big Hit (1998), starring Mark Walhlberg and Lou Diamond Phillips.
In the new millennium, Snipes produced and starred in the thriller The Art of
War (2000) before returning to the small screen with the role of Franklin Swift
in the TV film Disappearing Acts (2000). After a two-year absence, Snipes put
Liberty Stands Still (2002), ZigZag (2002) and the forgettable Undisputed (2002)
under his belt. The same year, he returned for the sequel Blade II (2002). The
film again became a box office hit and earned critical raves. Two years later,
Snipes was back to the Blade franchise in Blade: Trinity (2004), costarring Ryan
Reynolds and Jessica Biel.
Still powerful and lithe in his 40s, Snipes will soon costar opposite Jason
Statham and Ryan Phillippe in Tony Giglio’s action Chaos (2005). He is also set
to play the lead of Sonni Griffith in the sci-fi thriller Razor's Edge (2006)
and join Jean-Claude Van Damme in director/writer Sheldon Lettich The Hard Corps
(2006), in which he will portray an ex-World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
Additionally, Snipes announced that he would be working with Ken Watanabe and
Shu Qi for the upcoming project Chasing The Dragon, and rejoin director Mario
Van Peebles for the forthcoming Hard Luck, which also stars Cybill Shepherd.
Awards:
