Matt Dillon

Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in Over the Edge and established himself as a teen idol by starring in the films My Bodyguard (1980), Little Darlings (1980), Liar's Moon (1982), The Flamingo Kid (1984) and three of the four S. E. Hinton book adaptations: Tex (1982), Rumble Fish (1983) and The Outsiders (1983). 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, movie critic Roger Ebert referred to him as the best actor within his age group, along with Sean Penn.

In 2002, he made his directorial debut with City of Ghosts and has since continued to act in films such as Factotum (2005), You, Me and Dupree (2006), The House That Jack Built (2018), and Asteroid City (2023). 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. On television, he starred in the first season of the FOX television series Wayward Pines (2015), for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award.

Early life Dillon was raised in a close-knit Irish Catholic family in Mamaroneck, New York by homemaker Mary Ellen and Paul Dillon, a portrait painter and sales manager for packing material manufacturer Union Camp. He was named for the main character from the radio and TV Western drama series Gunsmoke. Paul Dillon also was the long-time golf coach at Fordham University, having been enshrined in the school's Hall of Fame in 2019. Dillon is the second of six children with one sister and four brothers, one of whom is actor Kevin Dillon. His paternal grandmother was the sister of comic strip artist Alex Raymond, the creator of Flash Gordon.

Career

In 1978, Jane Bernstein and a friend were helping director Jonathan Kaplan cast the 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. The film received a regional, limited theatrical release in May 1979, and grossed only slightly over $200,000. 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 and raised Dillon's profile among teen audiences.

Another of Dillon's early roles was in the Jean Shepherd PBS special The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters. 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.

He won the role of Dallas "Dally" Winston in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 cinematic adaptation of S. E. Hinton's novel, The Outsiders, and shared the screen with an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Leif Garrett, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, and Patrick Swayze. He had previously appeared in another adaptation of one of Hinton's novels with Emilio Estevez, Tex (1982), and he and Diane Lane appeared in Coppola's second adaptation of a Hinton novel, Rumble Fish (1983). All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hinton's hometown. 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 1985, Dillon was namechecked in the lyrics of the Roger Daltrey song 'After The Fire' (written by Pete Townshend). 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 Beautiful Girls (1996), In & Out (1997), 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. The same year 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 Girl music 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. In 2023, he was part of the ensemble cast in Wes Anderson's comedy Asteroid City.

He portrayed Marlon Brando in the biopic about Maria Schneider Being Maria, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life Dillon was in a relationship with Cameron Diaz from 1995 to 1998. From 2014 to 2023, he was in a relationship with Italian actress, dancer and choreographer Roberta Mastromichele. Dillon is an aficionado and collector of Latin music, with a large collection of vinyl, including a notable library of Cuban 78s.

Filmography

Film Year Film Role Notes 1979 Over the Edge Ritchie White 1980 My Bodyguard Melvin Moody Little Darlings Randy Adams 1981 Liar's Moon Jack Duncan 1982 Tex Tex McCormick 1983 The Outsiders Dallas "Dally" Winston Rumble Fish Rusty James 1984 The Flamingo Kid Jeffrey Willis 1985 Target Chris Lloyd / Derek Potter 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 Bloodhounds of Broadway Regret 1991 A Kiss Before Dying Jonathan Corliss 1992 Singles Cliff Poncier 1993 The Saint of Fort Washington Matthew Mr. Wonderful Gus DeMarco 1994 Golden Gate Kevin Walker 1995 To Die For Larry Maretto Frankie Starlight Terry Klout 1996 Grace of My Heart Jay Phillips Albino Alligator Dova Beautiful Girls Tommy "Birdman" Rowland 1997 In & Out Cameron Drake 1998 There's Something About Mary Patrick "Pat" Healy Wild Things Sam Lombardo 2001 One Night at McCool's Randy 2002 Deuces Wild Fritzy Zennetti City of Ghosts Jimmy Cremming Also writer and director 2003 Abby Singer Himself Rockets Redglare! Documentary 2004 Employee of the Month David Walsh Crash Officer John Ryan 2005 Loverboy Mark Factotum Henry Chinaski Herbie: Fully Loaded Trip Murphy 2006 You, Me and Dupree Carl Peterson ...So Goes the Nation Himself Documentary 2007 Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten 2008 Nothing but the Truth Patton Dubois 2009 Old Dogs Barry Armored Mike Cochrane 2010 Takers Det. Jack Welles In Search of Ted Demme Himself Documentary 2012 Girl Most Likely George / The Bousche 2013 Pawn Shop Chronicles Richard The Art of the Steal Nicky Calhoun Sunlight Jr. Richie Barnes 2014 Bad Country Jesse Weiland 2017 Rock Dog Trey Voice The Man Who Built Cambodia Narrator VoiceShort film Going in Style Hamer 2018 The House That Jack Built Jack Running for Grace Doc Head Full of Honey Nick 2019 Nimic Father Short film Proxima Mike Shannon 2020 Capone Johnny The Great Fellove DocumentaryDirector and executive producer Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago Narrator VoiceDocumentary 2021 Land of Dreams Alan Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr. Narrator VoiceDocumentary 2022 American Dreamer Dell 2023 Asteroid City Walter Geronimo 2024 Being Maria Marlon Brando Haunted Heart Max 2025 The Fence Horn 2026 Frank Stallone Sr. Post-production

Television Year Film Role Notes 1982 The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters Ralph Parker Television film 1991 Fishing with John Himself MiniseriesEpisode 3 Women & Men 2 Eddie Megeffin Television filmSegment: "Return to Kansas City" 1999 Oz DirectorEpisode: "Napoleon's Boney Parts" 2006 Saturday Night Live Himself HostEpisode: "Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys" 2007 The Simpsons Louie VoiceEpisode: "Midnight Towboy" 2011 Modern Family Robbie Sullivan Episode: "Princess Party" 2015 Wayward Pines Ethan Burke Main role (season 1) 2023 High Desert Denny Main role TBA Chris Adams Lead role

Music videos + Year Title Artist Notes 1987 "Fairytale of New York" The Pogues 1989 "Shirlee" Unity 2 Director 1993 "Bad Girl" Madonna 2007 "Been There All the Time" Dinosaur Jr. Director

Awards and nominations Year Award Nominated work Result 1981 Young Artist Award Best Young Actor in a Major Motion Picture My Bodyguard 1983 Young Artist Award Best Young Motion Picture Actor Tex 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Drugstore Cowboy 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy There's Something About Mary MTV Movie Award for Best Villain (tied with Stephen Dorff) Teen Choice Award Funniest Scene MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Denise Richards & Neve Campbell) Wild Things 2001 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album On the Road by Jack Kerouac, audiobook 2005 Gotham Tribute Award Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actor Crash Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actor Hollywood Film Festival Ensemble of the Year Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture Phoenix Film Critics Society Award Best Cast Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cast Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actor Empire Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture San Sebastián International Film Festival Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award 2007 Cairo International Film Festival Special Award 2011 Special Tomislav Pinter Award 2016 Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television Wayward Pines 2019 Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role The House That Jack Built Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 2022 75th Locarno Film Festival: Leopard of Honour