Sean Gunn’s acting career, from Gilmore Girls to Marvel and DC

By Celeb Pages · November 1, 2026

Sean Gunn is the character actor who plays Kirk Gleason in Gilmore Girls and Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. His career spans independent movies, television comedy and superhero productions. He is also the younger brother of filmmaker James Gunn. Apple TV’s career biography traces his early screen career and their family relationship.

The important distinction in his Marvel work: playing Kraglin on camera and performing Rocket on set are separate jobs. Rocket’s familiar adult voice is Bradley Cooper’s, not Sean Gunn’s, as an ABC Audio interview explains.

Early films and Kirk in Gilmore Girls

Before Gilmore Girls, Gunn appeared in the horror-comedy Tromeo and Juliet and television series including Angel. He also starred in the 2000 superhero spoof The Specials, which James Gunn wrote and Sean co-produced. That same year, he began playing Kirk in Gilmore Girls, remaining part of the show throughout its seven-season run, which ended in 2007. Apple TV’s biography traces this early career.

Kirk is the eccentric Stars Hollow resident whose changing jobs provide a recurring source of comedy. In a PauseRewind interview, Gunn named Kirk’s filmmaking ventures as his favorite of the character’s occupations—while questioning whether unpaid filmmaking counted as a job.

He returned as Kirk for the 2016 revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Its cast listing explicitly identifies him as Kirk Gleason.

Kraglin and Rocket: three distinct contributions

Gunn’s Marvel work is easiest to understand by separating these roles:

• Kraglin: his live-action character, a Ravager, in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Vol. 2 (2017) and Vol. 3 (2023). A Los Angeles Times report syndicated by AOL identifies his Kraglin role across the trilogy.
• Rocket’s on-set performance: Gunn performed alongside the other actors before visual-effects artists completed the character and Cooper supplied the adult voice. His work also extended to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In the ABC Audio interview, Gunn described Rocket’s creation as a relay involving the director, his own performance, visual effects and Cooper.
• Young Rocket’s voice: Gunn additionally voiced Young Rocket in Vol. 3’s flashbacks. This is distinct from his on-set work; both the ABC interview and IMDb’s role listing identify that contribution.

So “Sean Gunn plays Rocket” needs context: it can mean his physical on-set performance or his Young Rocket voice role, but it should not replace Cooper’s adult-voice credit.

Gunn has since said he is retired from Rocket’s motion-reference work, explaining its physical demands in an interview reported by IGN. That statement concerns the on-set performance, not retirement from acting generally.

His separate DC characters

Gunn’s DC appearances likewise involve several characters, not one continuing role:

• Weasel and Calendar Man in The Suicide Squad (2021): IMDb’s cast entry lists both characters. Gunn also discussed playing Weasel in an interview reported by ComicBook.com.
• The voices of Weasel and G.I. Robot in Creature Commandos (2024): DC’s official cast announcement names Gunn for both roles in the adult animated series. The Motion Picture Association’s trailer coverage also identifies him as a voice-cast member.
• Maxwell Lord in Superman (2025): DC identifies him as the actor playing the business mogul and Justice Gang financier in its official film rundown. Gunn also portrays Lord in Peacemaker season two; IGN’s coverage of the official trailer identifies him in that role.

Beyond the superhero franchises

Gunn’s work also includes the horror film Appofeniacs, written and directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. He plays a cosplay creator in one of its intertwined stories involving malicious AI deepfakes. His PauseRewind interview discusses the role and the film’s premise—a different direction from Kirk’s small-town comedy or his Marvel and DC characters.