
Matthew Modine
Biography
Matthew Avery Modine (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 (2016–2022).
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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Known For
Acting History
2027
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova
2026Protector as Colonel Joseph Lavelle
2025The Better Sister as Bill Braddock
2025Zero Day as Richard Dreyer
2024Hard Miles as Greg Townsend
2023The Martini Shot as Steve
2023Retribution as Anders Muller
2023Oppenheimer as Vannevar Bush
2023My Love Affair with Marriage as Bo (voice)
2023100 Years of Warner Bros. as Self
2023Accidental Truth: UFO Revelations as Narrator (voice)
2021Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal as Rick Singer
2021Against the Current as Narrator
2021Breaking News in Yuba County as Karl Buttons
2021Wrong Turn as Scott Shaw
2020Chance as Coach Mike
2020Guardians of Life
2019Miss Virginia as Congressman Cliff Williams
2019Alan Pakula: Going for Truth as Self
2019Foster Boy as Michael Trainer
2018Backtrace as MacDonald
2018Speed Kills as George Bush
2018Sicario: Day of the Soldado as Secretary of Defense James Riley
2018Filmworker as Self
201747 Meters Down as Taylor
2017The Hippopotamus as Michael Logan
2016How to Grow Up Despite Your Parents as Bob Riley
2016Army of One as Dr. Ross
2016Revengeance as Sid
2016Stranger Things as Martin Brenner
2016The Confirmation as Kyle
2015Unity as Narrator (voice)
2015The Brainwashing of My Dad as Himself - Narrator
2015Proof as Ivan Turing
2015Merry Xmas as Abe
2015The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards as Theodore Foster
2014Altar as Alec
2014Kubrick Remembered as Self
2014Guests as Theodore Foster
2014How Bizarre: The Story of an Otara Millionaire as Self
2014Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
2013Jobs as John Sculley
2013Family Weekend as Duncan Dungy
2013CAT. 8 as Dr. Michael Ranger
2012The Dark Knight Rises as Foley
2012Girl in Progress as Dr. Harford
2011Too Big to Fail as John Thain
2011The Flying House as Bertie (voice)
2011Adventures in Plymptoons! as Self
2011Jesus Was a Commie as Himself
2010The Trial as Mac
2010Mulberry St. as Self
2009Little Fish, Strange Pond as Mr. Jack
2009Sex and Lies in Sin City as Ted Binion
2009PoliWood as Self
2008Santa: The Fascist Years as Narrator (voice)
2008Cowboy as Cowboy
2008I Think I Thought as Joe
2008Garden of Eden as David's Father
2007The Neighbor as Jeff
2007Go Go Tales as Johnie Ruby
2007Have Dreams, Will Travel as Ben's Father
2006Kettle of Fish as Mel
2006The Bedford Diaries as Jake Macklin
2005Mary as Tony Childress / Jesus
2005Opa! as Eric
2005Odyssey in Rome
2005Weeds as Sullivan Groff
2005Transporter 2 as Jefferson Billings
2005Into the West as Samson Wheeler
2004Funky Monkey as Alec McCall
2004The Tony Danza Show as Self - Guest
2004The Winning Season as Honus Wagner
2004Hollywood North as Bobby Myers
2003Le Divorce as Tellman
2003Overnight as Self
2003Hitler: The Rise of Evil as Fritz Gerlich
2002Redeemer as Paul Freeman
2001Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story as Jack Robinson
2001The Shipment as Mitch Garrett
2001In the Shadows as Eric
2001Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures as Self
2001Nobody's Baby as Sonny
2000Bamboozled as Himself
2000Very Mean Men as Bartender
2000Flowers for Algernon as Charlie Gordon
1999Any Given Sunday as Dr. Ollie Powers
1999If... Dog... Rabbit as Johnnie Cooper
1999The West Wing as Marco Arlens
1999Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Gordon Rickett
1999Notting Hill as Actor (uncredited)
1998The American as Christopher Newman
1998So Graham Norton as Self - Guest
1998Surviving the Dust Bowl as Lawrence Svobida (voice)
1998The Real Blonde as Joe
1998Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman as Self
1997What the Deaf Man Heard as Sammy Ayers
1997The Maker as Walter Schmeiss
1997The Blackout as Matty
1997Ecce Pirate as Narrator
1995Cutthroat Island as William Shaw
1995Fluke as Thomas P. Johnson / Voice of Fluke
1995Lo + plus as Self - Guest
1995Bye Bye Love as Dave Goldman
1994Jacob as Jakob
1994The Browning Version as Frank Hunter
1994American Cinema as Self
1993Short Cuts as Dr. Ralph Wyman
1993And the Band Played On as Dr. Don Francis
1993Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country as Self
1993The Tree as Boy as Middle-Aged Man / Boy as Old Man
1992Equinox as Henry Petosa / Freddy Ace
1992Wind as Will Parker
1990Pacific Heights as Drake Goodman
1990Memphis Belle as Dennis Dearborn
1989The Simpsons as Dr. Stern (voice)
1989The Lemon Sisters as Wild Bill Hamer
1989Gross Anatomy as Joe Slovak
1988The Gamble as Francesco Sacredo
1988LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
1988Married to the Mob as Mike Downey
1987Orphans as Treat
1987Full Metal Jacket as Pvt. Joker
1985Vision Quest as Louden Swain
1984Mrs. Soffel as Jack Biddle
1984Birdy as Birdy
1984The Hotel New Hampshire as Chip Dove / Ernst
1983Streamers as Billy
1983Private School as Jim Green
1983Baby It's You as Steve
1982Amy and the Angel as Randy
1975Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame as Sammy Ayers
—Michael Caton-Jones: This Broxburn Boy's Life as Self
—A Modern Art Masterpiece: The Untold Story of Full Metal Jacket as Self









