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, aka Eric Brooks, is a mixed martial artist whom is handy with the majority of every weaponry invented, especially any blade or sword type instrument. Blade is a Dhampir, a mix between a human and a vampire. He has devoted his life to fighting off evil vampires, such as Dracula. After years of trying to locate Dracula, Blade eventually finds him in Paris. Arriving in Paris, Blade encounters Quincy Harker, a vampire hunter whom he knows by reputation. Harker's team consists of Rachel van Helsing, Taj Nital, and Frank Drake. Due to Blade's selfish fighting style and uncontrollable temperament he strains himself from Harker's team, but keeps a steady relationship with them. After an unsuccessful battle with Dracula, Blade realizes he needs Harker and his team in order to kill the King of Vampires. Blade and the team are unable to track down Dracula, but are able to kill Deacon Frost, a vampire sorcerer whom allies with Dracula. After the death of Deacon, Dracula resurfaces and commands all of his vampires to attack Blade and Harker's team. The battle ends with Blade and Frank Drake as the only remaining vampire hunters. The others die in battle. Blade and Drake's extremely injured bodies are found by Hannibal King, a private detective whom Deacon Frost had turned into a vampire. He saves them both and takes their lifeless bodies home to care for.
