Sean Whalen
Biography
Sean M. Whalen, born May 19 1964 in Washington, D.C., is an American actor who has worked in film, television and on stage. He is the youngest of four children and was raised in the Maryland communities of Silver Spring and Olney. Whalen attended Sherwood High School before graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles. While studying he supported himself as a waiter and performed with The Groundlings improv troupe. He began appearing in commercials and made his film debut in the 1991 horror movie The People Under the Stairs. He is also remembered for starring in the inaugural “Got Milk?” television spot that featured a peanut‑butter sandwich gag. His career includes more than 120 credited acting roles.
Career overview
Sean M. Whalen, born May 19 1964 in Washington, District of Columbia, is an American actor who has worked across film, television and stage. He grew up as the youngest of four children in the Silver Spring and Olney areas of Maryland, attended Sherwood High School, and later earned a degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. While studying, Whalen supported himself as a waiter and performed with the improvisational troupe The Groundlings, gaining experience that led to early work in commercials.
Whalen’s first feature‑film appearance came in 1991 with the horror‑thriller The People Under the Stairs. Following that debut, he built a résumé that includes more than one hundred acting credits in both movies and television series. In addition to his screen work, he is noted for a high‑profile commercial for the “Got Milk?” campaign, in which he portrays a character struggling to answer a radio host’s question about the historic Burr‑Hamilton duel after taking a large bite of a peanut‑butter sandwich. His career reflects a steady presence in a variety of supporting roles across multiple media, underscored by his background in live performance and his early exposure to commercial work.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Traumatika (2025) as Steve
- A Blind Bargain (2025) as Troy
- Finding Nicole (2025) as Cameron
- Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024) as Mantooth
- Getting LOST (2024) as Self
- Crust (2024) as Vegas
- Crust (2024) Screenplay
- Crust (2024) Director
- Crust (2024) Producer
- Crust (2024) Story
- I Don't Know (2024) as Trenton
- The Furry Fortune (2023) as Uncle Fred
- Beneath Us All (2023) as Todd Gibbs
- The Bermuda Triangle Project (2023) as Jerry Niles
- Headless Horseman (2022) as Fleck
- Ghosts (2021) as William
- Kenan (2021) as Andrew
- An American Pickle (2020) as Scientist
- Corona House (2020) as David De McMichaels
- The Righteous Gemstones (2019) as Walker
- 3 from Hell (2019) as Burt Willie
- Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) as Patrol Cop
- Ice Cream in the Cupboard (2019) as Doug Hannigan
- To Hell and Back: The Making of 3 From Hell (2019) as Self
- Magnum P.I. (2018) as Sam
- Death House (2018) as Satan
- Rich Boy, Rich Girl (2018) as Kevin
- Ugly Sweater Party (2018) as Declan Rains
- The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017) as Reverend Kelly
- Dark Tales (2017)
- Creature Features (2016) as Self
- Street Level (2016) as Virgil Sylvano
- All Superheroes Must Die 2: The Last Superhero (2016) as Jeff Sanders
- World of Death (2016) as Michael (Segment: "Michael")
- Superstore (2015) as Sal Kazlauskas
- BUNK'D: Learning the Ropes (2015) as Cosmo Dibble
- Milk & Cookies (2015) as Dad
- The Divine Tragedies (2015) as Doug
- Caesar and Otto's Paranormal Halloween (2015) as Monsignor Winston
- Constantine (2014) as Anton
- Jersey Boys (2014) as Engneer
- Murder of a Cat (2014) as Howard
- Wet and Reckless (2014) as David De McMichaels
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013) as Bill Voss
- Hatchet III (2013) as Randy
- Isolated (2013) as Self - Ambassador for Peace
- Lab Rats (2012) as Security Guard
- Shameless (2011) as Lester
- Revenge (2011) as Skeet
- Up All Night (2011) as Todd
- All Superheroes Must Die (2011) as Manpower
- The FP (2011) as Stacy's Dad
- Castle (2009) as Leopold Malloy
- Halloween II (2009) as Becks
- Laid to Rest (2009) as Steven
- The Kidnapping (2008) as Coroner
- The Last Day of Summer (2008) as Mr. Molesky
- Wizards of Waverly Place (2007) as Mantooth
- The ½ Hour News Hour (2007)
- Drive Thru (2007) as Lenny Schwartz
- Hannah Montana (2006) as Moose Master Mike
- Employee of the Month (2006) as Dirk
- Criminal Minds (2005) as Tucker White
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005) as Lion McPoyle
- The Closer (2005) as Frank
- The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005) as Whacky Wally
- Chasing Ghosts (2005) as Marshall
- Road Kill (2005) as Southside Butcher
- Lost (2004) as Neil 'Frogurt'
- Unfabulous (2004)
- Life As We Know It (2004) as Mr. Parnell
- The Last Shot (2004) as P.A.
- A Very Cool Christmas (2004) as Food Server
- Cold Case (2003) as Damon Childress (2007)
- The Hebrew Hammer (2003) as Tiny Tim
- Deep Shock (2003) as Arciero
- Less than Perfect (2002) as Phillip
- Fillmore! (2002)
- Fillmore! (2002) as Officer Langley Turk (voice)
- Fillmore! (2002) Writer
- A Midsummer Night's Rave (2002) as Manager Gil
- Scrubs (2001) as Laddy
- Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) as Zoumas
- My Wife and Kids (2001)
- Special Unit 2 (2001) as Sean Radmon
- Charlie's Angels (2000) as Pasqual
- Python (2000) as Deputy Lewis Ross
- Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder (2000) as Jeff Shapiro
- Idle Hands (1999) as McMacy
- Never Been Kissed (1999) as Merkin
- Ride with the Devil (1999) as Clark Boy
- Martial Law (1998) as Bobby Dreenan
- Just Shoot Me! (1997) as Maury
- Pepper Ann (1997) Writer
- Men in Black (1997) as Passport Officer
- Jenny (1997) as Writer
- Suicide Kings (1997) as Widowmaker
- A Guy Walks Into a Bar (1997) as The Pump Jockey
- Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996) as Chip
- Spin City (1996) as Caitlin's Cousin Stevie
- Nash Bridges (1996) as Travis Owen
- Twister (1996) as Sanders
- The Cable Guy (1996) as Karaoke Party Guest
- That Thing You Do! (1996) as Heckler
- Egg Salad (1996) as Bud
- Nowhere Man (1995) as Scott Jordon
- Waterworld (1995) as Bone
- Glory Daze (1995) as Flunky
- Jury Duty (1995) as Carl Wayne Bishop
- Friends (1994) as Pizza Guy
- Rebel Highway (1994) as Tattoo
- Tammy and the T-Rex (1994) as Weasel
- Jailbreakers (1994) as Tattoo
- The Crazysitter (1994) as Carl
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) as Skip
- Doppelganger (1993) as Gas Man
- Stepmonster (1993) as Store Clerk
- Batman Returns (1992) as Paperboy
- Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (1992) as Wormser
- The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys (1992) as Aquarius
- The People Under the Stairs (1991) as Roach
- Ferris Bueller (1990) as Manager
- Swipe as Possum
- Swipe Director
- Swipe Producer
- Cheer Bloody Murder as Johnny
- Dead of Night as Mr. Carter
- Party of Darkness as Cyrus
- Stigma: Raised in Hollywood as Self
- The Righteous Adventures of Commander Star Shark & Guppy! as Dr. Dorsal Fin
- Regression as Greg Fisher