Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22nd, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles that include Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, Sullivan Groff on Weeds and Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix original Stranger Things.
Modine has been acting since his graduation and he is also the nephew of stage actress Nola Fairbanks. After his graduation, Modine moved to New York City to pursue his dream of art and theater.
As of today, he is married to actress Caridad Rivera and they have two children together; Boman Mark Rivera Modine (born November 8th, 1985) and Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine (born July 31st, 1990).
Biography
Early Life
Modine was born in Loma Lunda, California and was the youngest of seven children. He was the son of Dolores, a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed a few Drive-In Theaters. He was also the nephew of a stage actress Nola Modine Fairbanks and the great-grandson of the prospector and pioneer Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks. Modine had lived in Utah for several years, moving every 1 or 2 years. The drive-in theaters his father had managed were being torn down because the land beneath them had exceeded the value of the theaters. The Modine Family had returned to Imperial Beach, California. There, Matthew had attended and graduated from Mar Vista High School in 1977.
Career
His first film role was in John Sayles' film Baby Its You. Modine's perfomance in that film caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who casted him in the film Vision Quest, which was based on Terry Davis' novel of the same name. Modine also appeared in the sex comedy, Private School, the film co-stared Phoebe Gates and Betsy Russell.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Baby It's You | Steve |
| 1983 | Private School | Jim |
| 1983 | Streamers | Billy |
| 1984 | Birdy | Birdy |
| 1984 | The Hotel New Hampshire | Chip Dove / Ernst |
| 1983 | Mrs. Soffel | Jack Biddle |
| 1985 | Vision Quest | Louden Swain |
| 1987 | Orphans | Treat |
| 1987 | Full Metal Jacket | Private Joker |
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | Mike Downey |
| 1988 | The Gamble | Francesco Sacredo |
| 1989 | Gross Anatomy | Joe Slovak |
| 1990 | Memphis Belle | Capt. Dennis Dearborn |
| 1990 | Pacific Heights | Drake Goodman |
| 1992 | Wind | Will Parker |
| 1992 | Equinox | Henry Petosa / Freddy Ace |
| 1993 | Short Cuts | Dr. Ralph Wyman |
| 1994 | The Browning Version | Frank Hunter |
| 1994 | Jacob | Jacob |
| 1995 | Cutthroat Island | Shaw |
| 1995 | Bye Bye Love | Dave |
| 1995 | Fluke | Thomas P. Johnson / Voice of Fluke |
| 1997 | The Maker | Walter Schmeiss |
| 1997 | The Blackout | Matty |
| 1997 | The Real Blonde | Joe |
| 1999 | Any Given Sunday | Dr. Ollie Powers |
| 1999 | If... Dog... Rabbit.. (also known as One Last Score) | Johnnie Cooper |
| 1999 | Notting Hill | Movie-Within-Movie Actor (uncredited) |
| 2000 | Bamboozled | Himself |
| 2000 | Very Mean Men | Bartender |
| 2001 | In the Shadows | Eric |
| 2001 | Nobody's Baby | Sonny |
| 2001 | The Shipment | Mitch Garrett |
| 2003 | Hitler: The Rise of Evil | Fritz Gerlich |
| 2003 | Le Divorce | Tellman |
| 2004 | Funky Monkey | Alec McCall |
| 2005 | Opa | Eric |
| 2005 | Transporter 2 | Jefferson Billings |
| 2006 | Kettle of Fish | Mel |
| 2006 | Mary | Tony Childress / Jesus |
| 2006 | Lost in Love | |
| 2007 | Go Go Tales | Johnie Ruby |
| 2007 | The Neighbor | Jeff |
| 2007 | Have Dreams, Will Travel | Ben's Father |
| 2008 | The Garden of Eden | David's Father |
| 2009 | PoliWood | Himself |
| 2009 | Little Fish, Strange Pond (also known as Frenemy) | Mr. Jack |
| 2010 | The Trial | Mac |
| 2010 | Frenemy (2010 film) | Australian |
| 2010 | A Cat in Paris (English version) | Lucas |
| 2011 | Mia and the Migoo | Mr. Houston / Godfrey |
| 2011 | Jesus Was a Commie | John Doe |
| 2011 | The Flying House | Bertie |
| 2011 | Rugas (English version) | Juan |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Peter Foley |
| 2012 | Girl in Progress | Dr. Harford |
| 2012 | Jobs | John Sculley |
| 2013 | Family Weekend | Duncan Dungy |
| 2014 | Unity | Narrator |
| 2014 | Altar (also known as The Haunting of Radcliffe House) | Alec Hamilton |
| 2015 | The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards | Theodore Foster |
| 2016 | The Confirmation | Kyle |
| 2016 | In the Deep | |
| 2016 | Stars in Shorts: No Ordinary Love | Abe |
| 2016 | Come Diventare Grandi Nonostante i Genitori | Bob Riley |
| 2016 | The Brainwashing of My Dad | Narrator |
| 2017 | The Hippopotamus | Michael Logan |
| 2017 | 47 Meters Down | Captain Taylor |
| 2018 | Sicario: Day of the Soldado | James Riley |
| 2018 | An Actor Prepares | Charlie |
| 2018 | Speed Kills | George Bush |
| 2018 | Backtrace | Macdonald |
Television (TV Movies included)
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | And the Band Played On | Dr. Don Francis |
| 1996 | What the Deaf Man Heard | Sammy Ayers |
| 1998 | The American | Christopher Newman |
| 2000 | Flowers for Algernon | Charlie Gordon |
| 2001 | Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story | Jack Robinson (Johnathan William Duncan Robinson) |
| 2002 | Redeemer | Paul Freeman |
| 2003 | The West Wing | Marco Arlen |
| 2004 | The Winning Season | Honus Wagner |
| 2005 | Into the West | Samson Wheeler |
| 2005 | Law and Order: Special Victims Unit | Gordon Rickett |
| 2006 | The Bedford Diaries | Professor Jake Macklin |
| 2007 | Weeds | Sullivan Groff |
| 2008 | Sex and Lies in Sin City | Ted Binion |
| 2011 | Too Big to Fail | John Thain |
| 2012 | CAT.8 | Dr. Michael Ranger |
| 2015 | Proof | Ivan Turing |
| 2016 | Stranger Things | Dr. Martin Brenner |
| 2019 | Surveillance | The Man in the Red Tie |