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