Matt Dillon

Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor and film director. He made his feature film debut in Over the Edge (1979) and established himself as a teen idol by starring in the films My Bodyguard (1980), Little Darlings (1980), Tex (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), The Outsiders (1983) and The Flamingo Kid (1984). From the late 1980s onward, Dillon achieved further success, starring in Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Singles (1992), The Saint of Fort Washington (1993), To Die For (1995), Beautiful Girls (1996), In & Out (1997), There's Something About Mary (1998), and Wild Things (1998). In a 1991 article, famed movie critic Roger Ebert referred to him as the best actor within his age group, along with Sean Penn.[1]
In the 2000s, he made his directing debut with City of Ghosts (2002) and went on to star in the films Factotum (2005), You, Me and Dupree (2006), Nothing but the Truth (2008), Sunlight Jr. (2013) and The House That Jack Built (2018). For Crash (2004), he won an Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He had earlier been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for narrating Jack Kerouac's On the Road. In 2015, he has starred in the first season of the FOX television series Wayward Pines, for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award.
== Early life ==
Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York, to Mary Ellen, a homemaker, and Paul Dillon, a portrait painter and sales manager for Union Camp, a toy bear manufacturer.[2][3] His paternal grandmother was the sister of comic strip artist Alex Raymond, the creator of Flash Gordon.[4] Dillon is the second of six children with one sister and four brothers, one of whom is actor Kevin Dillon. He is of mostly Irish descent, with some Scottish and German ancestry.[5] Dillon was raised in a close-knit Roman Catholic family.[6][7][8] He grew up in Mamaroneck, New York.[9]
== Career ==
In 1978, Jane Bernstein and a friend were helping director Jonathan Kaplan cast the violent teen drama Over the Edge when they found Dillon cutting class at Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont. Dillon auditioned for a role and made his debut in the film.[10] The film received a regional, limited theatrical release in May 1979, and grossed only slightly over $200,000.[11] Dillon's performance was well-received, which led to his casting in two films released the following year: the teenage sex comedy Little Darlings, in which Kristy McNichol's character loses her virginity to a boy from the camp across the lake, played by Dillon, and the more serious teen dramedy My Bodyguard, where he played a high-school bully opposite Chris Makepeace. The films, released in March and July 1980, respectively, were box office successes[12] and raised Dillon's profile among teenage audiences.
Another of Dillon's early roles was in the Jean Shepherd PBS special The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters.[13][14] The only available copies of this film are stored at UCLA, where a legal dispute makes it unavailable to the public.
One of his next roles was in Liar's Moon, where he played Jack Duncan, a poor Texas boy madly in love with a rich banker's daughter. In the early 1980s, Dillon also had prominent roles in three adaptations of S. E. Hinton novels: Tex (1982), The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983). All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hinton's hometown. The Outsiders and Rumble Fish had Dillon working with Francis Ford Coppola and Diane Lane. He followed those up with The Flamingo Kid in 1984. He made his Broadway debut with the play The Boys of Winter in 1985.
Dillon did voiceover work in the 1987 documentary film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. In 1989, Dillon won critical acclaim for his performance as a drug addict in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.
Dillon continued to work in the early 1990s with roles in films like Singles (1992). He had a resurgence when he played Nicole Kidman's husband in To Die For (1995), as well as starring roles in Wild Things (1998) and There's Something About Mary (1998), for which he received an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
In 2002, he wrote and directed the film City of Ghosts, starring himself, James Caan and Gérard Depardieu. In 2005, he starred in Factotum, a film adaptation of an autobiographical work by Charles Bukowski. Two years later he received critical praise and earned Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for his role in Crash, a film co-written and directed by Paul Haggis. In 2005, Dillon co-starred in Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded and on March 11, 2006 hosted Saturday Night Live, in which he impersonated Greg Anderson and Rod Serling in sketches.
Dillon starred in the comedy You, Me and Dupree, opposite Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson. The film opened on July 14, 2006. On September 29, 2006, Dillon was honored with the Premio Donostia prize in the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Dillon contributed his voice as the narrator, Sal Paradise, in an audiobook version of Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. In 2006, he narrated Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos.
Dillon appeared in several music videos during his career. He made a cameo appearance as a detective in Madonna's Bad Girlmusic video which also stars Christopher Walken. Dillon appeared in 1987 in the music video for "Fairytale of New York" by the Irish folk-punk band The Pogues playing a cop who escorts lead singer Shane MacGowan into the "drunk tank". In 2007, the band Dinosaur Jr. hired Dillon to direct the video for their single "Been There All The Time" from the album Beyond. That year, he guest-starred on The Simpsons episode "Midnight Towboy". Early in 2015 he played the role of a Secret Service agent in the FOX 10-episode series Wayward Pines.
In 2018, Dillon played the lead role in the Lars von Trier thriller The House That Jack Built.[15]
== Personal life ==
Dillon had a three-year relationship with actress Cameron Diaz; they broke up in 1998.[16]
== Filmography ==
Year	Film 	Role 	Notes
1979	Over the Edge 	Ritchie White 	
1980	My Bodyguard 	Melvin Moody 	
1980	Little Darlings 	Randy Adams 	
1982	Tex 	Tex McCormick 	
1982	Liar's Moon 	Jack Duncan 	
1982	The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters	Ralph 	TV movie
1983	The Outsiders 	Dallas "Dally" Winston 	
1983	Rumble Fish 	Rusty James 	
1984	The Flamingo Kid 	Jeffrey Willis 	
1985	Target 	Chris Lloyd / Derek Potter	
1985	Rebel 	Sergeant Harry Rebel 	
1986	Native Son 	Jan Erlone 	
1987	The Big Town 	J. C. Cullen 	
1988	Kansas 	Doyle Kennedy 	
1989	Drugstore Cowboy 	Bob Hughes 	
1989	Bloodhounds of Broadway 	Regret 	
1991	A Kiss Before Dying 	Jonathan Corliss 	
1991	Fishing with John 	Himself 	
1991	Women & Men 2 	Eddie Megeffin 	TV movie
1992	Singles 	Cliff Poncier 	
1993	The Saint of Fort Washington 	Matthew 	
1993	Mr. Wonderful 	Gus DeMarco 	
1994	Golden Gate 	Kevin Walker 	
1995	To Die For 	Larry Maretto 	
1995	Frankie Starlight 	Terry Klout 	
1996	Grace of My Heart 	Jay Phillips 	
1996	Albino Alligator 	Dova 	
1996	Beautiful Girls 	Tommy "Birdman" Rowland 	
1997	In & Out 	Cameron Drake 	
1998	There's Something About Mary 	Patrick "Pat" Healy 	
1998	Wild Things 	Sam Lombardo 	
2001	One Night at McCool's 	Randy 	
2002	Deuces Wild 	Fritzy Zennetti 	
2002	City of Ghosts 	Jimmy Cremming 	Also director and writer
2003	Abby Singer 	Himself 	
2004	Employee of the Month 	David Walsh 	
2004	Crash 	Officer John Ryan 	
2005	Loverboy 	Mark 	
2005	Factotum 	Henry Chinaski 	
2005	Herbie: Fully Loaded 	Trip Murphy 	
2006	You, Me and Dupree 	Carl Peterson 	
2007	The Simpsons 	Louie (voice) 	TV series (1 episode: "Midnight Towboy")
2008	Nothing But the Truth 	Patton Dubois 	
2009	Old Dogs 	Barry 	
2009	Armored 	Mike Cochrane 	
2010	Takers 	Det. Jack Welles 	
2011	Modern Family 	Robbie Sullivan 	TV series (1 episode: "Princess Party")
2012	Girl Most Likely 	George / The Bousche 	
2013	Pawn Shop Chronicles 	Richard 	
2013	The Art of the Steal 	Nicky Calhoun 	
2013	Sunlight Jr. 	Richie Barnes 	
2014	Bad Country 	Jesse Weiland 	
2015	Wayward Pines 	Ethan Burke 	TV series (10 episodes)
2017	Rock Dog 	Trey (voice) 	
2017	Going in Style 	Hamer 	
2018	The House That Jack Built 	Jack 	
2018	Running for Grace 	Doc 	
2018	Head Full of Honey 	 	
2019	Fonzo 	Johnny 	Post-production
2019	Proxima 	 	Post-production
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Award 	Nominated work 	Result
1981	Young Artist Award Best Young Actor in a Major Motion Picture 	My Bodyguard 	Nominated
1983	Young Artist Award Best Young Motion Picture Actor 	Tex 	Nominated
1990	Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead 	Drugstore Cowboy 	Won
1999	MTV Movie Award for Best Villain (tied with Stephen Dorff) 	There's Something About Mary 	Won
1999	MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Denise Richards & Neve Campbell) 	Wild Things 	Nominated
1999	Teen Choice Award Funniest Scene 	There's Something About Mary 	Won
1999	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy 	There's Something About Mary 	Won
2001	Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 	On the Road by Jack Kerouac, audiobook	Nominated
2005	Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Won
2005	Gotham Tribute Award 	 	Won
2005	Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast 	Crash 	Nominated
2005	Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Won
2005	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2005	Hollywood Film Festival Ensemble of the Year 	Crash 	Won
2005	Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture 	Crash 	Won
2005	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cast 	Crash 	Won
2005	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award Best Cast 	Crash 	Won
2006	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble 	Crash 	Won
2006	Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Empire Award for Best Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male 	Crash 	Won
2006	Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role 	Crash 	Nominated
2006	SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 	Crash 	Won
2006	San Sebastián International Film Festival Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award	 	Won
2007	Cairo International Film Festival Special Award 	 	Won
2011	Special Tomislav Pinter Award 	 	Won
2016	Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television 	Wayward Pines 	Nominated
2019	Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 	The House That Jack Built 	Nominated
2019	Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 	The House That Jack Built 	Nominated