Matthew Avery Modine ( mo-DEEN; born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He shared the Venice Film Festival‘s Volpi Cup for Best Actor as part of the ensemble cast of Robert Altman’s film Streamers (1983). He went on to play lead roles in several high-profile films throughout the 1980s, including Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), and Married to the Mob (1988). He gained further prominence for playing U.S. Marine James T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987).
Other notable films include Pacific Heights (1990), Short Cuts (1993), Cutthroat Island (1995), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). On television, he portrayed Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), Sullivan Groff on Weeds (2007), Ivan Turing in Proof (2015), and Dr. Martin Brenner on Netflix's Stranger Things (2016–2017; 2022).
Modine has been nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for his work in And the Band Played On and What the Deaf Man Heard and received a special Golden Globe for him and the rest of the ensemble in Short Cuts. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for And the Band Played On.
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Early life and education
Modine, the youngest of seven children, was born on March 22, 1959, in Loma Linda, California, the son of Dolores (née Warner), a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed drive-in theaters. He is the nephew of the stage actress Nola Modine Fairbanks, and the great-grandson of the prospector and pioneer Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks. One of his other great-grandfathers was a Swedish immigrant. Modine lived in Utah for several years, moving every year or two. The drive-in theaters his father managed were being torn down because the land beneath them exceeded the value of the theaters. The Modine family returned to Imperial Beach, California, where Matthew attended and graduated from Mar Vista High School in 1977.
Career
Film
Modine's first film role was in John Sayles' film Baby It's You (1983). Also that year, he co-starred in the sex comedy Private School, with Phoebe Cates and Betsy Russell. His performances caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (1985, filmed 1983), based on Terry Davis's novel. The director Robert Altman propelled Modine to international stardom with his 1983 film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers. Modine played Mel Gibson's brother in Mrs. Soffel (1984) and starred with Nicolas Cage in Alan Parker's Birdy (1984); the film was awarded Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Modine turned down the role of LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun (played by Tom Cruise), because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics.
Modine may be best known for his role as Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis, the central character of Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket (1987). Subsequently, Modine played the dangerous young criminal Treat in Alan Pakula's 1987 film adaptation of Lyle Kessler's stageplay Orphans. Modine played the goofy, earnest FBI agent Mike Downey in Jonathan Demme's screwball comedy Married to the Mob (1988) opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1990, he led the cast of Memphis Belle, a fictionalized account of the B-17 Flying Fortress. Modine's subsequent roles included Drake Goodman in the thriller Pacific Heights (1990), Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), and Dr. Ralph Wyman in the Robert Altman film Short Cuts (1993). For his work in And the Band Played On, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television and for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special, and for his work in Short Cuts, he received a special Golden Globe Award for the ensemble cast.
In 1995, Modine appeared opposite Geena Davis in the romantic action-adventure film Cutthroat Island. He was nominated for a second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for his work in the 1997 television film What the Deaf Man Heard. Modine made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit... (1999), which came after the success of three short films debuting at the Sundance Film Festival: When I Was a Boy, co-directed with Todd Field; Smoking, written by David Sedaris; and Ecce Pirate, written by Modine. Also in 1999, he appeared in Oliver Stone's football drama Any Given Sunday.
In 2003, he guest-starred in The West Wing episode "The Long Goodbye". He portrayed the character Marco, who went to high school with C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) and who helped her deal with her father's steady mental decline due to Alzheimer's disease. Modine agreed to take the role because he is a longtime friend of Janney. (The two appeared together in a theatrical production of the play Breaking Up directed by Stuart Ross). That same year, he played Fritz Gerlich in the CBS miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003).
Theater
Modine appeared in Arthur Miller's Finishing the Picture at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, in Miller's Resurrection Blues at London's Old Vic, and in a stage adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (as Atticus Finch) at Connecticut's Hartford Stage (This production of To Kill a Mockingbird became the most successful play in the theatre's 45-year history), and in 2022/23 at London's Gielgud Theatre. In 2010, he starred with Abigail Breslin in the 50th Anniversary Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker at the Circle in the Square theatre.
In fall 2013, Modine starred in a self-parodying comedy, Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas at Los Angeles' Geffen Theatre.
Personal life
Modine married Caridad Rivera, a makeup and wardrobe stylist, in 1980. They have two children: Boman, an assistant film director; and Ruby Modine, an actress, singer and ballet dancer.
Modine is the subject of the 2005 song "Matthew Modine" by Pony Up.
Activism
Cycling has been Modine's main mode of transportation since he moved to New York City from Utah in 1980. He heads a pro-bike organization called "Bicycle for a Day" and was honored for his work on June 2, 2009, by the environmental arts and education center on the East River, Solar 1.
In 2019, Modine ran unsuccessfully for SAG-AFTRA national presidential election, challenging incumbent Gabrielle Carteris. Modine's campaign manager and a number of other union members filed protests after the result, alleging election violations. The complaints were unsuccessful, and the investigation found no reason to set aside Cateris's election. Modine ran again in 2021 and was defeated by Fran Drescher by a margin of 52.5% to 47.5%.
