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.

Known For

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

The Simpsons

Stranger Things

Stranger Things

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Saturday Night Live

The West Wing

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

All Movies (115)

• Godzilla x Kong: Supernova2027
• Accidental Truth: Next - Beyond UFO Disclosure2026 · as Self - Narrator
• Protector2026 · as Colonel Joseph Lavelle
• Hard Miles2024 · as Greg Townsend
• Retribution2023 · as Anders Muller
• Oppenheimer2023 · as Vannevar Bush
• The Martini Shot2023 · as Steve
• My Love Affair with Marriage2023 · as Bo (voice)
• Accidental Truth: UFO Revelations2023 · as Narrator (voice)
• Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal2021 · as Rick Singer
• Against the Current2021 · as Narrator
• Breaking News in Yuba County2021 · as Karl Buttons
• Wrong Turn2021 · as Scott Shaw
• Chance2020 · as Coach Mike
• Guardians of Life2020
• Miss Virginia2019 · as Congressman Cliff Williams
• Alan Pakula: Going for Truth2019 · as Self
• Foster Boy2019 · as Michael Trainer
• Backtrace2018 · as MacDonald
• Speed Kills2018 · as George Bush
• Sicario: Day of the Soldado2018 · as Secretary of Defense James Riley
• Filmworker2018 · as Self
• 47 Meters Down2017 · as Taylor
• The Hippopotamus2017 · as Michael Logan
• How to Grow Up Despite Your Parents2016 · as Bob Riley
• Army of One2016 · as Dr. Ross
• Revengeance2016 · as Sid
• The Confirmation2016 · as Kyle
• Unity2015 · as Narrator (voice)
• The Brainwashing of My Dad2015 · as Himself - Narrator
• Merry Xmas2015 · as Abe
• The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards2015 · as Theodore Foster
• Altar2014 · as Alec
• Kubrick Remembered2014 · as Self
• Guests2014 · as Theodore Foster
• How Bizarre: The Story of an Otara Millionaire2014 · as Self
• Jobs2013 · as John Sculley
• Family Weekend2013 · as Duncan Dungy
• The Dark Knight Rises2012 · as Foley
• Girl in Progress2012 · as Dr. Harford
• Too Big to Fail2011 · as John Thain
• Adventures in Plymptoons!2011 · as Self
• Jesus Was a Commie2011 · as Himself
• The Trial2010 · as Mac
• Mulberry St.2010 · as Self
• Little Fish, Strange Pond2009 · as Mr. Jack
• Sex and Lies in Sin City2009 · as Ted Binion
• PoliWood2009 · as Self
• Santa: The Fascist Years2008 · as Narrator (voice)
• Go Go Tales2008 · as Johnie Ruby
• Cowboy2008 · as Cowboy
• I Think I Thought2008 · as Joe
• Garden of Eden2008 · as David's Father
• The Neighbor2007 · as Jeff
• Have Dreams, Will Travel2007 · as Ben's Father
• Kettle of Fish2006 · as Mel
• Mary2005 · as Tony Childress / Jesus
• Opa!2005 · as Eric
• Odyssey in Rome2005
• Transporter 22005 · as Jefferson Billings
• Funky Monkey2004 · as Alec McCall
• The Winning Season2004 · as Honus Wagner
• Hollywood North2004 · as Bobby Myers
• Le Divorce2003 · as Tellman
• Overnight2003 · as Self
• Redeemer2002 · as Paul Freeman
• World Birth Day2002 · as Self - Narrator(voice)
• The Shipment2001 · as Mitch Garrett
• In the Shadows2001 · as Eric
• Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures2001 · as Self
• Nobody's Baby2001 · as Sonny
• Bamboozled2000 · as Himself
• Very Mean Men2000 · as Bartender
• Flowers for Algernon2000 · as Charlie Gordon
• Any Given Sunday1999 · as Dr. Ollie Powers
• If... Dog... Rabbit1999 · as Johnnie Cooper
• Notting Hill1999 · as Actor (uncredited)
• The American1998 · as Christopher Newman
• Surviving the Dust Bowl1998 · as Lawrence Svobida (voice)
• The Real Blonde1998 · as Joe
• Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman1998 · as Self
• What the Deaf Man Heard1997 · as Sammy Ayers
• The Maker1997 · as Walter Schmeiss
• The Blackout1997 · as Matty
• Ecce Pirate1997 · as Narrator
• Cutthroat Island1995 · as William Shaw
• Fluke1995 · as Thomas P. Johnson / Voice of Fluke
• Bye Bye Love1995 · as Dave Goldman
• Jacob1994 · as Jakob
• The Browning Version1994 · as Frank Hunter
• Short Cuts1993 · as Dr. Ralph Wyman
• And the Band Played On1993 · as Dr. Don Francis
• Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country1993 · as Self
• The Tree1993 · as Boy as Middle-Aged Man / Boy as Old Man
• Equinox1992 · as Henry Petosa / Freddy Ace
• Wind1992 · as Will Parker
• Pacific Heights1990 · as Drake Goodman
• Memphis Belle1990 · as Dennis Dearborn
• The Lemon Sisters1989 · as Wild Bill Hamer
• Gross Anatomy1989 · as Joe Slovak
• The Gamble1988 · as Francesco Sacredo
• Married to the Mob1988 · as Mike Downey
• Orphans1987 · as Treat
• Full Metal Jacket1987 · as Pvt. Joker
• Vision Quest1985 · as Louden Swain
• Mrs. Soffel1984 · as Jack Biddle
• Birdy1984 · as Birdy
• The Hotel New Hampshire1984 · as Chip Dove / Ernst
• Streamers1983 · as Billy
• Private School1983 · as Jim Green
• Baby It's You1983 · as Steve
• Amy and the Angel1982 · as Randy
• Michael Caton-Jones: This Broxburn Boy's Life— · as Self
• A Modern Art Masterpiece: The Untold Story of Full Metal Jacket— · as Self
• The Splendid Thing— · as Declan King

All TV Shows (23)

• The Better Sister2025 · as Bill Braddock
• Zero Day2025 · as Richard Dreyer
• 100 Years of Warner Bros.2023 · as Self
• Stranger Things2016 · as Dr. Martin Brenner
• Stranger Things2016 · as Dr. Martin Brenner (archive footage)
• Proof2015 · as Ivan Turing
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self
• CAT. 82013 · as Dr. Michael Ranger
• The Bedford Diaries2006 · as Jake Macklin
• Weeds2005 · as Sullivan Groff
• Into the West2005 · as Samson Wheeler
• The Tony Danza Show2004 · as Self - Guest
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil2003 · as Fritz Gerlich
• Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story2001 · as Jack Robinson
• The West Wing1999 · as Marco Arlens
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit1999 · as Gordon Rickett
• So Graham Norton1998 · as Self - Guest
• Lo + plus1995 · as Self - Guest
• American Cinema1994 · as Self
• The Simpsons1989 · as Dr. Stern (voice)
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark1988 · as Self - Guest
• Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Host
• Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Sammy Ayers