Woody Harrelson Movies and TV Shows: Full List & Guide

Few actors have logged as many miles in Hollywood as Woody Harrelson—and yet his filmography still catches people off guard. From a bartender who became TV’s most lovable wiseacre to a Twinkie-obsessed zombie hunter, the man has spent four decades refusing to play the same role twice. That range is exactly what this guide is built to map out: a chronological tour through his best films, his TV roots, his franchise commitments, and where to find his work streaming today.

Favorite Movie (Self-Stated): The People vs. Larry Flynt · Notable Franchise: The Hunger Games series · Key 2000s Films: No Country for Old Men (2007), 2012 · TV Breakthrough: Cheers (1985-1993) · Recent Credits: Fandango

A master list of Woody Harrelson’s documented film and television credits across four decades, verified through IMDb and Wikipedia.

Woody Harrelson Movies in Order

A career that opens with a sports comedy and pivots through war films, courtroom dramas, zombie parodies, and blockbuster franchises isn’t easy to organize. The clearest path runs through five distinct phases that mark how Harrelson kept recalibrating his screen identity.

Early Career Films

Harrelson’s first film role landed in Wildcats (1986), a football comedy starring Goldie Hawn that most cinephiles have never seen. The move made sense for someone who’d just finished eight seasons on Cheers—the bar was already set for charm over grit. White Men Can’t Jump (1992) is where things shifted. Harrelson played Billy Hoyle, a streetball hustler whose confidence outpaced his skills, and suddenly the comedian had dramatic range nobody saw coming.

1990s Breakthroughs

Natural Born Killers (1994) threw audiences for a loop. Harrelson’s Mickey Knox was feral, unhinged, and nothing like the bartender they’d known for years. Director Oliver Stone turned the violence up to surreal heights, and Harrelson matched the energy beat for beat. The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) proved he could carry a film as the controversial publisher. The Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 86%, and Harrelson himself has called it his favorite among his own work. Wag the Dog (1997), also at 86%, kept the momentum going—this time as a spin doctor managing a fictional war from a hotel suite.

2000s Blockbusters

The Thin Red Line (1998) placed Harrelson in Terrence Malick’s meditative war epic as Sgt. William Keck, proving he could disappear into ensemble casts dominated by quieter tones. Then came a quiet stretch until No Country for Old Men (2007) detonated back into the cultural conversation. His Carson Wells was a bounty hunter with a bead on Javier Bardem’s sociopath, and the film earned a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes—Harrelson’s highest-profile credit in years.

2010s Franchises

Zombieland (2009) introduced Tallahassee, a gun-toting, Twinkie-obsessed zombie slayer who became Harrelson’s most quoted character. The role was pure kinetic comedy, a 180 from the stoic dramas of the previous decade. Then The Hunger Games (2012) arrived. Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy—the traumatized victor mentoring Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss—became a franchise anchor across four films from 2012 to 2015. The role required him to modulate: dry humor hiding deep trauma, exactly the kind of contradiction that Harrelson has built a career on.

Woody Harrelson Best Movies

If you judge an actor by his Rotten Tomatoes portfolio, Harrelson’s numbers hold up remarkably well across four decades. Several films clear the 90% threshold, and the distribution cuts across genres that rarely overlap.

Critic Top Picks

• Nanking (2007) — 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Harrelson plays Robert O. “Bob” Wilson in this documentary-drama hybrid about the 1937 Nanjing massacre. It’s his highest-rated credit, though the subject matter means it rarely surfaces in casual conversation.
• War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) — 94%. Harrelson brought gravity to Colonel McCullough in the third Apes reboot film, a role that required him to play villain without camp.
• The Edge of Seventeen (2016) — 94%. A teenage comedy where Harrelson plays the history teacher brother of the protagonist’s mother. Small role, enormous impact.
• Transsiberian (2008) — 91%. Harrelson is Roy, an American missionary caught up in a murder investigation on a Siberian train. Tight thriller, underrated in his catalog.

Award-Nominated Roles

• No Country for Old Men (2007) — 93%. The Coen Brothers’ Best Picture winner gave Harrelson a supporting turn that held the screen against Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones. The film swept the Oscars, and Harrelson’s presence was part of why it worked.
• The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) — 86%. Columbia Pictures’ legal drama landed Harrelson his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Woody Harrelson TV Shows

Television built Harrelson’s career and never fully let go. The Cheers years (1985–1993) remain the most-watched stretch of his professional life, but his TV appearances haven’t stopped since.

Cheers Era

Woody Boyd arrived in Boston as a replacement for Coach (Ernest Borgnine), and Harrelson made the character his own within a season. The role required slapstick timing, midwestern optimism, and an obliviousness that played against the sharper ensemble cast. By the final seasons, Harrelson had become the show’s secret weapon for physical comedy and unexpected heart.

Recent Series Appearances

After Cheers, appearances grew sporadic but stranger. He turned up in episodes of The Simpsons, appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in True Detective, and guest-starred in scattered projects through the 2010s. The IMDb profile lists dozens of television credits beyond film, though precise streaming availability for older episodes shifts by platform and region.

Guest Spots

Harrelson’s guest appearances span genres from sitcom callbacks to dramatic cameos. The through-line is improv—he’s known for departing from scripts when the moment feels right, a habit that sometimes elevates the material and sometimes derails it.

Woody Harrelson Movies and TV Shows Netflix

Streaming availability for Harrelson’s work bounces between platforms and changes without warning. Here’s what’s known about where his credits currently land.

Available Films

The Hunger Games films have cycled through Netflix in various regions but availability shifts by country and licensing windows. War for the Planet of the Apes and No Country for Old Men appear on premium cable and rental platforms more reliably than Netflix at any given moment. Zombieland and Zombieland: Double Tap surface on various streaming services depending on the season.

TV Series on Platform

Cheers seasons rotate through Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video more consistently than Netflix. True Detective’s first season, where Harrelson appeared in a pivotal early role, lives on HBO Max. Availability details shift quarterly as licensing deals expire and renew.

Regional Availability Note

Netflix catalogs differ between the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. What streams in one country may not appear in another. Current availability should be checked directly on the platform before building a viewing queue.

Woody Harrelson Latest Movie

Harrelson’s calendar shows no sign of slowing down. The actor has stacked releases across 2024 and 2025, with at least two confirmed projects moving into 2026.

2023-2024 Releases

Champions (2023) cast Harrelson as Marcus, a golf pro coaching a team of players with intellectual disabilities. The film positioned him as executive producer alongside Matthew McConaughey, and Rotten Tomatoes confirmed the 2023 release date and his involvement. Fly Me to the Moon (2024) brought Harrelson into a space-race comedy with Channing Tatum, playing Moe Burkus in a film that drew mixed reviews but kept his name in wide release.

Upcoming Projects

Last Breath (2025) places Harrelson in a deep-sea thriller about divers attempting to rescue a trapped crewmate. The Rotten Tomatoes profile shows the project active in 2025. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025) marks the third entry in the illusionist series, with Harrelson reprising Merritt McKinney for Fandango’s cast listings. For a glimpse into his extensive work, explore Woody Harrelson’s full filmography and top TV series at San Quentin 2 demo.

Recent Completions

The Electric State (2025) features Harrelson as Christopher in a sci-fi project currently in production. Ella McCay (2025) lists him as Eddie McCay, suggesting a return to comedy-drama territory. Animal Farm (2026) shows him in an executive producer and voice acting capacity, though details remain sparse.

For audiences deciding where to start, the picture is straightforward: the Hunger Games films deliver consistent franchise entertainment, No Country for Old Men shows him at his dramatic sharpest, and Zombieland proves he can make audiences laugh without losing his edge. Pick your priority and work backward through the catalog. Harrelson has earned the trust that lets him vary the menu without losing you.