Matthew Modine
Encyclopedia
Matthew Avery Modine is an award-winning American actor. His film roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's
Full Metal Jacket
, the title character in Alan Parker
's Birdy
, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest
, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey
and the oversexed Sullivan Groff in Weeds
.
, the son of Dolores (née
Warner), a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed drive-in
theaters.
The first move for Modine was from his birthplace in Loma Linda to Imperial Beach, California
. The family lived in Imperial Beach for two years before Mark was transferred to Salt Lake City
, Utah
where his father became the District Theater Manager of Sero Amusement Company. Mark was the manager of the Lyric Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. It was here that Matthew met Robert Redford
during a publicity visit for the film Barefoot in the Park
.
At ten years old, Matthew saw a documentary about the making of the film Oliver!
. Inspired by the young actors' performances, Modine decided to become an actor. He found a dance school in Provo, Utah
and began taking tap dancing lessons. He also joined the junior high school glee club when his family moved to Midvale, Utah
.
At fourteen, his father was transferred back to Imperial Beach, California. Matthew began the eighth grade at Mar Vista Junior High, and his sophomore year at Mar Vista High School. He performed in a production of Our Town
as George Gibbs. In his junior year, Matthew attended Southwest High School, but after the murder of a classmate, the school feared retaliation and gang violence, so his parents chose to send him back to Mar Vista High. Matthew convinced his parents to allow him to attend Marian Catholic High School, but he later graduated from Mar Vista High.
Modine moved to New York to pursue his acting career, but struggled to get a foothold there. After several months he returned to Imperial Beach, where he saw the violence and substance abuse problems plaguing the small border town taking a toll on his friends. It became apparent to Modine that remaining in the San Diego area could prove disastrous.
Modine moved back to New York City more determined to study acting. He began working with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler
. He has maintained his residence in New York since 1980.
' Baby It's You
. His performance caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (Crazy for You) based on the novel by Terry Davis. He appeared in the sex comedy
Private School
, co-starring Phoebe Cates
and Betsy Russell
. The director Robert Altman
propelled Modine to international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers
. Modine and his fellow castmates won an unprecedented Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival for the tragic story of young American soldiers about to be shipped to Vietnam
. Modine played Mel Gibson
's brother in Mrs. Soffel
and starred with Nicolas Cage
in Alan Parker
's Birdy
. The film was awarded a prize at the Cannes Film Festival
.
Modine might be best known for his role as Private Joker, the central character of Stanley Kubrick
's 1987 war movie Full Metal Jacket
. Subsequently, he played the dangerous young criminal Treat in Alan Pakula's film version of the hugely successful Lyle Kessler
stageplay Orphans
, and played the goofy, earnest FBI agent Mike Downey in Jonathan Demme
's screwball comedy Married to the Mob
opposite Michelle Pfeiffer
. In 1990 he led the cast of Memphis Belle
, a fictionalized account of the famous B-17 Flying Fortress. Modine was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performances in And the Band Played On
(an HBO TV movie about the early years of the HIV
/AIDS
epidemic) and the dark comedy What the Deaf Man Heard
.
In 1995, he appeared opposite Geena Davis
in the romantic action-adventure film Cutthroat Island
. Modine made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit, which came after the success of three short films debuting at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival
: When I Was a Boy
(co-directed with Todd Field
), Smoking
written by David Sedaris
, and Ecce Pirate written by Modine. The dark comedy, I Think I Thought debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival
. The film tells the story of a Thinker (Modine) who ends up in Thinkers Anonymous. Other short films include, To Kill an American, Cowboy
, and The Love FIlm. in 2011, he completed Jesus Was a Commie, an avant garde-dialectical conversation about the world and the prominent issues of modern society. Modine co-directed the short film with Terence Ziegler, the editor of I Think I Thought. Modine's short films have played internationally.
In 2003, he guest starred on The West Wing in the episode "The Long Goodbye". He portrayed the character Marco, who went to high school with Cregg (Allison Janney
), and who helped her deal with her father's steady mental decline due to Alzheimer's disease
. Modine agreed to the role because he is a longtime friend of Janney. (The two appeared in a theatrical production of the play Breaking Up, directed by Stuart Ross
). That same year, he played Fritz Gerlich
in the CBS
miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil
.
In 2004, Modine appeared in Funky Monkey
as a ex-football star turned spy Alec McCall who teams up with super-chimp Clemens and his friend Michael Dean (Seth Adkins
) to take down the villainous Flick (Taylor Negron
). The film was a critical failure yet has gained a cult status.
In 2005, Abel Ferrara
's Mary
won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival
. In the film, Modine portrayed a director recounting the story of Mary Magdalene
(Juliette Binoche
).
In 2010, Modine appeared in The Trial
, which was awarded the Parents Television Council
's Seal of Approval™. The PTC said: "'The Trial' combines the best features of courtroom drama, murder mystery and character story. 'The Trial' is a powerful drama which shows the power of healing and hope."
Modine played a corrupt Majestic City developer named "Sullivan Groff" throughout Season 3 on Weeds
. Groff has affairs with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker
) and Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins
). He also guest starred in the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Rage" as a serial killer
.
In 2010, Modine worked on HBO's Too Big to Fail
, a film about the Wall Street
financial crisis. Modine stars as John Thain
, former Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch
, who famously spent millions decorating his office.
In 2011, Modine completed two independent films, Family Weekend and Ansiedad opposite Eva Mendes
, and commenced work on Christopher Nolan
's The Dark Knight Rises
.
's Finishing the Picture
at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and Miller's Resurrection Blues
at London's Old Vic. He played Atticus Finch
in To Kill a Mockingbird
at Connecticut's Hartford Stage. This production became the most successful play in the theatre's 45-year history. In 2010, he starred in the 50th Anniversary Broadway
rival of the The Miracle Worker
at the Circle in the Square theatre.
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
, the title character in Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
's Birdy
Birdy (film)
Birdy is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It is based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton.- Synopsis :...
, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest
Vision Quest
Vision Quest is a 1985 coming of age drama film starring Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino, and Ronny Cox. It is based on Terry Davis' novel of the same name. In some countries, it was released as Crazy for You to market on Madonna's emerging fame and the popularity of the song...
, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey
Funky Monkey (film)
Funky Monkey is a 2004 family film starring Matthew Modine and Roma Downey. It is written by Lance Kinsey and Peter Nelson. It is directed by Harry Basil. The tagline is "He's one high tech super chimp".-Synopsis:...
and the oversexed Sullivan Groff in Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
.
Early life
Modine, the youngest of seven children, was born in Loma Linda, CaliforniaLoma Linda, California
Loma Linda is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 23,261 at the 2010 census, up from 18,681 at the 2000 census...
, the son of Dolores (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Warner), a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed drive-in
Drive-in
A drive-in is a facility such as a bank, restaurant, or movie theater where one can literally drive in with an automobile for service. It is usually distinguished from a drive-through. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk out...
theaters.
The first move for Modine was from his birthplace in Loma Linda to Imperial Beach, California
Imperial Beach, California
Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the most southern beach city in Southern California and the West Coast of the United States...
. The family lived in Imperial Beach for two years before Mark was transferred to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
where his father became the District Theater Manager of Sero Amusement Company. Mark was the manager of the Lyric Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. It was here that Matthew met Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
during a publicity visit for the film Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park (film)
Barefoot in the Park is a 1967 American comedy film.Based on Neil Simon's 1963 play of the same title, it focuses on newlyweds Corie and Paul Bratter and their adventures living in a minuscule sixth floor walk-up apartment in a Greenwich Village brownstone...
.
At ten years old, Matthew saw a documentary about the making of the film Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
. Inspired by the young actors' performances, Modine decided to become an actor. He found a dance school in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
and began taking tap dancing lessons. He also joined the junior high school glee club when his family moved to Midvale, Utah
Midvale, Utah
Midvale is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 27,029 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Midvale is located at ....
.
At fourteen, his father was transferred back to Imperial Beach, California. Matthew began the eighth grade at Mar Vista Junior High, and his sophomore year at Mar Vista High School. He performed in a production of Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
as George Gibbs. In his junior year, Matthew attended Southwest High School, but after the murder of a classmate, the school feared retaliation and gang violence, so his parents chose to send him back to Mar Vista High. Matthew convinced his parents to allow him to attend Marian Catholic High School, but he later graduated from Mar Vista High.
Modine moved to New York to pursue his acting career, but struggled to get a foothold there. After several months he returned to Imperial Beach, where he saw the violence and substance abuse problems plaguing the small border town taking a toll on his friends. It became apparent to Modine that remaining in the San Diego area could prove disastrous.
Modine moved back to New York City more determined to study acting. He began working with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
. He has maintained his residence in New York since 1980.
Career
His first film role was in John SaylesJohn Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
' Baby It's You
Baby It's You (film)
Baby It's You is an American film released in 1983 written and directed by John Sayles. It stars Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano.This was Sayles' first film for a major Hollywood studio...
. His performance caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (Crazy for You) based on the novel by Terry Davis. He appeared in the sex comedy
Sex comedy
Sex comedy is a term for comedy movies with sexual content usually referring to those made in the United Kingdom in the mid 1970s. They may range from comic pornographic films like the Confessions series to relatively innocent comedies that include jokes about sex and other sexual related humour,...
Private School
Private School (film)
Private School is a 1983 teen oriented sex comedy film, directed by Noel Black.-Cast :* Phoebe Cates as Christine Ramsey* Betsy Russell as Jordan Leigh-Jenson* Matthew Modine as Jim Green...
, co-starring Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates is an American film actress, model, and entrepreneur known for her roles in several teen films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.-Early life:...
and Betsy Russell
Betsy Russell
Betsy Russell is an American actress who is best known for her role in Private School, and as Jill Tuck, the ex-wife of the Jigsaw Killer in the Saw film series.-Early life:...
. The director Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
propelled Modine to international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers
Streamers
Streamers is a play by David Rabe. After premiering at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut in 1975, the production transferred to Broadway, opening on April 21, 1976 at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, where it ran for 478 performances...
. Modine and his fellow castmates won an unprecedented Best Actor prize from the Venice Film Festival for the tragic story of young American soldiers about to be shipped to Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Modine played Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's brother in Mrs. Soffel
Mrs. Soffel
Mrs. Soffel is a 1984 American film drama based on the true Buck McGovern and the Biddle Boys case of 1901 Pittsburgh, starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. It was filmed on location in and around the Serez family Farm in Mulmer Ontario, as well as Wisconsin and establishing shots in Pittsburgh...
and starred with Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
in Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
's Birdy
Birdy (film)
Birdy is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It is based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton.- Synopsis :...
. The film was awarded a prize at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 1987 war movie Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
. Subsequently, he played the dangerous young criminal Treat in Alan Pakula's film version of the hugely successful Lyle Kessler
Lyle Kessler
Lyle Kessler is an American playwright, screenwriter and actor, best known internationally for Orphans, the play he wrote in 1983.-Actor:...
stageplay Orphans
Orphans (Lyle Kessler play)
Orphans is a play by Lyle Kessler. It premiered in 1983 at the in Los Angeles starring Joe Pantoliano, Lane Smith and Paul Leiber, where it received critical and commercial success and won the Drama-Logue Award....
, and played the goofy, earnest FBI agent Mike Downey in Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
's screwball comedy Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob
Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the...
opposite Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
. In 1990 he led the cast of Memphis Belle
Memphis Belle (film)
Memphis Belle is a 1990 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Monte Merrick, starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and introducing Harry Connick Jr. in his screen debut...
, a fictionalized account of the famous B-17 Flying Fortress. Modine was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performances in And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On (film)
And the Band Played On is a 1993 American television film docudrama directed by Roger Spottiswoode. The teleplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the best-selling 1987 non-fiction book And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts.The film premiered at the Montreal...
(an HBO TV movie about the early years of the HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic) and the dark comedy What the Deaf Man Heard
What the Deaf Man Heard
What the Deaf Man Heard is a 1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on CBS television on November 23, 1997. It concerns Sammy, a boy who pretends to be deaf and mute, when in reality he can hear and speak perfectly well. The movie starred Matthew Modine and James Earl Jones.-Plot...
.
In 1995, he appeared opposite Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
in the romantic action-adventure film Cutthroat Island
Cutthroat Island
Cutthroat Island is a 1995 action adventure film directed by Renny Harlin. The film stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office bomb: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of...
. Modine made his feature directorial debut with If... Dog... Rabbit, which came after the success of three short films debuting at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
: When I Was a Boy
When I Was a Boy
When I Was a Boy is a 1993 album by Jane Siberry. Internationally, it is her most famous album. In Siberry's native Canada, however, the album was commercially successful but not as big a hit as her 1985 album The Speckless Sky....
(co-directed with Todd Field
Todd Field
William Todd Field, known professionally as Todd Field is an American actor and writer/director. He has received three Academy Award nominations.-Background and personal life:...
), Smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
written by David Sedaris
David Sedaris
David Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....
, and Ecce Pirate written by Modine. The dark comedy, I Think I Thought debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
. The film tells the story of a Thinker (Modine) who ends up in Thinkers Anonymous. Other short films include, To Kill an American, Cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
, and The Love FIlm. in 2011, he completed Jesus Was a Commie, an avant garde-dialectical conversation about the world and the prominent issues of modern society. Modine co-directed the short film with Terence Ziegler, the editor of I Think I Thought. Modine's short films have played internationally.
In 2003, he guest starred on The West Wing in the episode "The Long Goodbye". He portrayed the character Marco, who went to high school with Cregg (Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
), and who helped her deal with her father's steady mental decline due to Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. Modine agreed to the role because he is a longtime friend of Janney. (The two appeared in a theatrical production of the play Breaking Up, directed by Stuart Ross
Stuart Ross
Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor.Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age 16 by Books by Kids . This book, The Thing in Exile,...
). That same year, he played Fritz Gerlich
Fritz Gerlich
Carl Albert Fritz Gerlich was a German journalist and historian, and one of the main journalistic resisters to Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil
Hitler: The Rise of Evil
Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after World War I and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and...
.
In 2004, Modine appeared in Funky Monkey
Funky Monkey (film)
Funky Monkey is a 2004 family film starring Matthew Modine and Roma Downey. It is written by Lance Kinsey and Peter Nelson. It is directed by Harry Basil. The tagline is "He's one high tech super chimp".-Synopsis:...
as a ex-football star turned spy Alec McCall who teams up with super-chimp Clemens and his friend Michael Dean (Seth Adkins
Seth Adkins
Seth Elijah Adkins is an American actor. He made his debut in the mid-1990s as achild artiste in the TV shows Small Talk and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 1996 and the films ...First Do No Harm and Titanic in 1997. He later made a successful transition to an adult performer...
) to take down the villainous Flick (Taylor Negron
Taylor Negron
Brad Taylor Negron is an American writer, actor, and stand-up comedian.-Personal life:Negron was born in Glendale, California to Conrad Negron, Sr., former mayor of Indian Wells, California. He grew up in Pasadena, California. His cousin is singer Chuck Negron...
). The film was a critical failure yet has gained a cult status.
In 2005, Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...
's Mary
Mary (2005 film)
Mary is a 2005 drama thriller film, written and directed by American director Abel Ferrara. The film stars Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine and Heather Graham....
won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. In the film, Modine portrayed a director recounting the story of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
(Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
).
In 2010, Modine appeared in The Trial
The Trial
The Trial is a novel by Franz Kafka, first published in 1925. One of Kafka's best-known works, it tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor the reader.Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never...
, which was awarded the Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
's Seal of Approval™. The PTC said: "'The Trial' combines the best features of courtroom drama, murder mystery and character story. 'The Trial' is a powerful drama which shows the power of healing and hope."
Modine played a corrupt Majestic City developer named "Sullivan Groff" throughout Season 3 on Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
. Groff has affairs with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...
) and Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins
Elizabeth Perkins
Elizabeth Ann Perkins is an American actress. Her film roles have included Big, The Flintstones, Miracle on 34th Street, About Last Night..., and Avalon...
). He also guest starred in the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Rage" as a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
.
In 2010, Modine worked on HBO's Too Big to Fail
Too Big to Fail
Too Big to Fail is a television drama film in the United States broadcast on HBO on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson...
, a film about the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
financial crisis. Modine stars as John Thain
John Thain
John Alexander Thain is an American businessman, investment banker, and currently chairman and CEO of the CIT Group.Thain was the last chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch before its merger with Bank of America...
, former Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
, who famously spent millions decorating his office.
In 2011, Modine completed two independent films, Family Weekend and Ansiedad opposite Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
, and commenced work on Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
's The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming epic superhero film. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight...
.
Theatre
Modine appeared in Arthur MillerArthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's Finishing the Picture
Finishing the Picture
Finishing the Picture is Arthur Miller's final play. It was produced at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois in October 2004,just months before Miller's death on February 10, 2005.-Production:...
at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and Miller's Resurrection Blues
Resurrection Blues
Resurrection Blues is Arthur Miller's penultimate play. Though Miller was not known for his humor, this play uses a pointed comedic edge to intensify his observations about the dangers, as well as the benefits, of blind belief: political, religious, economic and emotional.-Plot:The story is set in...
at London's Old Vic. He played Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch is a fictional character in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer and resident of the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, and the father of Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Atticus is a central character in the novel...
in To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
at Connecticut's Hartford Stage. This production became the most successful play in the theatre's 45-year history. In 2010, he starred in the 50th Anniversary Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
rival of the The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker is a cycle of 20th century dramatic works derived from Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life. Each of the various dramas describes the relationship between Keller—a deafblind and initially almost feral child—and Anne Sullivan, the teacher who introduced her to...
at the Circle in the Square theatre.
Filmography
- Private SchoolPrivate School (film)Private School is a 1983 teen oriented sex comedy film, directed by Noel Black.-Cast :* Phoebe Cates as Christine Ramsey* Betsy Russell as Jordan Leigh-Jenson* Matthew Modine as Jim Green...
(1983) - StreamersStreamers (film)Streamers is a 1983 film adapted by David Rabe from his play of the same title. The film was directed by Robert Altman and produced by Robert Michael Geisler and John Roberdeau...
(1983) by Robert AltmanRobert AltmanRobert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and... - BirdyBirdy (film)Birdy is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It is based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton.- Synopsis :...
(1984) - The Hotel New HampshireThe Hotel New Hampshire (film)The Hotel New Hampshire is a 1984 comedy-drama film based on John Irving's 1981 novel of the same name. The film was written and directed by Tony Richardson and stars Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges, Rob Lowe, and Nastassja Kinski. The film also features Wilford Brimley, Amanda Plummer, Matthew Modine,...
(1984) - Mrs. SoffelMrs. SoffelMrs. Soffel is a 1984 American film drama based on the true Buck McGovern and the Biddle Boys case of 1901 Pittsburgh, starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. It was filmed on location in and around the Serez family Farm in Mulmer Ontario, as well as Wisconsin and establishing shots in Pittsburgh...
(1984) - Vision QuestVision QuestVision Quest is a 1985 coming of age drama film starring Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino, and Ronny Cox. It is based on Terry Davis' novel of the same name. In some countries, it was released as Crazy for You to market on Madonna's emerging fame and the popularity of the song...
(1985) - Orphans (1987)
- Full Metal JacketFull Metal JacketFull Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
(1987) by Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career... - Married to the MobMarried to the MobMarried to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.Michelle Pfeiffer, in something of a departure from her previous roles, gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Matthew Modine as the...
(1988) by Jonathan DemmeJonathan DemmeRobert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop... - Gross AnatomyGross Anatomy (1989 film)Gross Anatomy is a 1989 American drama film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Matthew Modine and Daphne Zuniga. It was released by Touchstone Pictures.-Synopsis:...
(1989) - Memphis BelleMemphis Belle (film)Memphis Belle is a 1990 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Monte Merrick, starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and introducing Harry Connick Jr. in his screen debut...
(1990) - Pacific Heights (1990) by John SchlesingerJohn SchlesingerJohn Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
- WindWind (film)Wind is a film released in 1992. The movie was directed by Carroll Ballard and starred Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, and Cliff Robertson.- Plot summary :...
(1992) - EquinoxEquinox (1992 film)Equinox is a 1992 film written and directed by Alan Rudolph. It stars Matthew Modine in dual roles, along with Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei, Lori Singer and Fred Ward. The film was shot in Minnesota and Utah and is set in the fictional urban city of Empire...
(1992) by Alan Rudolph - Short CutsShort CutsShort Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
(1993) by Robert AltmanRobert AltmanRobert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and... - And the Band Played OnAnd the Band Played On (film)And the Band Played On is a 1993 American television film docudrama directed by Roger Spottiswoode. The teleplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the best-selling 1987 non-fiction book And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts.The film premiered at the Montreal...
(1993, HBO Cable) - The Browning VersionThe Browning Version (1994 film)The Browning Version is a 1994 film directed by Mike Figgis and starring Albert Finney. The film is based on the 1948 play by Terence Rattigan, which was previously adapted for film under the same name in 1951.-Plot:...
(1994) - Jacob (1994)
- Cutthroat IslandCutthroat IslandCutthroat Island is a 1995 action adventure film directed by Renny Harlin. The film stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office bomb: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of...
(1995) - Bye Bye LoveBye Bye Love (film)Bye Bye Love is a 1995 American comedy-drama film that deals with the central issue of divorce. It was directed by Sam Weisman and written by Gary David Goldberg and Brad Hall...
(1995) - FlukeFluke (film)Fluke is a 1995 film directed by Carlo Carlei and starring Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Nancy Travis, Max Pomeranc and the voice of Samuel L. Jackson. Bill Cobbs, Ron Perlman, and Jon Polito co-star...
(1995) - What the Deaf Man HeardWhat the Deaf Man HeardWhat the Deaf Man Heard is a 1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on CBS television on November 23, 1997. It concerns Sammy, a boy who pretends to be deaf and mute, when in reality he can hear and speak perfectly well. The movie starred Matthew Modine and James Earl Jones.-Plot...
(1996, TV) - The MakerThe Maker (film)The Maker is a 1997 American drama film written by Rand Ravich and directed by Tim Hunter. The Maker was released on October 17, 1997 in the United States of America and is rated R for strong violence, drug use, language and some sexuality.-Plot:...
(1997) - The BlackoutThe Blackout (1997 film)The Blackout is a 1997 American drama film directed by Abel Ferrara. It was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Matthew Modine - Matty* Claudia Schiffer - Susan* Béatrice Dalle - Annie 1* Sarah Lassez - Annie 2...
(1997) - The Real BlondeThe Real BlondeThe Real Blonde is a 1998 movie directed and written by Tom DiCillo. It stars Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, and Maxwell Caulfield. The film is a satire on New York's fashion and entertainment industries.-Plot:...
(1997) - Any Given SundayAny Given SundayAny Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
(1999) by Oliver StoneOliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on... - Flowers for AlgernonFlowers for AlgernonFlowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...
(2000, TV) - In the Shadows (2001)
- The American (2001, TV)
- Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real StoryJack and the Beanstalk: The Real StoryJack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story is a 2001 American television miniseries. It was directed by Brian Henson and was a co-production of CBS and Jim Henson Television. It is an alternative version of the classic English fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. The story was considerably reworked...
(2001, TV) - Redeemer (2002, TV)
- Hitler: The Rise of EvilHitler: The Rise of EvilHitler: The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after World War I and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and...
(2003) - Le DivorceLe DivorceLe Divorce is a 2003 Merchant Ivory Productions' film directed by James Ivory and the screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Ivory, based on Diane Johnson's bestselling novel.-Summary:...
(2003) by James IvoryJames Ivory (director)James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala... - Funky MonkeyFunky Monkey (film)Funky Monkey is a 2004 family film starring Matthew Modine and Roma Downey. It is written by Lance Kinsey and Peter Nelson. It is directed by Harry Basil. The tagline is "He's one high tech super chimp".-Synopsis:...
(2004) - The Winning SeasonThe Winning SeasonThe Winning Season is a 2010 sport comedy film written and directed by James C. Strouse, starring Sam Rockwell. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release on September 3, 2010....
(2004, TV) - Opa (2005)
- Transporter 2Transporter 2Transporter 2 is a 2005 action film directed by Louis Leterrier and produced by Luc Besson. It is the sequel to The Transporter . It is itself followed by Transporter 3 ....
(2005) - Into The WestInto the West (TV miniseries)Into the West is a 2005 miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks, with six two-hour episodes . The series was first broadcast in the U.S. on Turner Network Television on six Fridays starting on June 10, 2005...
(2005, TV) - Kettle of Fish (2006)
- MaryMary (2005 film)Mary is a 2005 drama thriller film, written and directed by American director Abel Ferrara. The film stars Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine and Heather Graham....
(2006) - The Bedford DiariesThe Bedford DiariesThe Bedford Diaries is an American television series that premiered March 29, 2006 on The WB and concluded its first season on May 10, 2006. It was canceled on May 18, 2006. The series was created by Tom Fontana and Julie Martin....
(2006, TV) - Go Go TalesGo Go TalesGo Go Tales is an independent 2007 film by Abel Ferrara. It was screened out of competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.It stars Willem Dafoe as a strip club owner and co-stars Bob Hoskins...
(2007) - The Neighbor (2007)
- WeedsWeeds (TV series)Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
(2007, TV) - Have Dreams, Will TravelHave Dreams, Will TravelHave Dreams, Will Travel is a drama film set in the 1960s written and directed by Brad Isaacs, starring Cayden Boyd, AnnaSophia Robb, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dylan McDermott, Heather Graham, Val Kilmer, and Matthew Modine.-Plot:Narrator Benjamin Reynolds lives with neglectful parents in 1960s west...
(2007) - PoliWoodPoliWoodPoliWood is a 2009 documentary directed by Barry Levinson and produced by Tim Daly, Robin Bronk and Robert E. Baruc.-Synposis:The Democratic and Republican National Conventions held in 2008 during the USA Presidential Elections are examined from an in-depth look...
(2009) - The TrialThe Trial (2010 film)The Trial is a 2010 drama film starring Matthew Modine. It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Whitlow.-Plot:After his two sons and wife die in a horrific car crash, suicide seems to be the only escape for small town attorney Kent "Mac" McClainas until he's assigned a capital...
(2010) - FrenemyFrenemy"Frenemy" is a portmanteau of "friend" and "enemy" that can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or to a partner who is simultaneously a competitor and rival. The term is used to describe personal, geopolitical, and commercial relationships both among individuals and groups or institutions...
aka (*Little Fish, Strange Pond) (filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
) (2010) - Mia and the MigooMia and the MigooMia and the Migoo is a 2008 French animated film produced by Folimage and directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd, about a young girl's search for her father in a tropical paradise threatened by the construction of a gigantic hotel resort. The film won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature at...
(English language version) (2011) - Too Big To FailToo Big to FailToo Big to Fail is a television drama film in the United States broadcast on HBO on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson...
(2011, HBO) - Jesus Was a Commie (2011)
- Winsor McCayWinsor McCayWinsor McCay was an American cartoonist and animator.A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades...
's and Bill PlymptonBill PlymptonWilliam "Bill" Calvin Plympton is an American animator, former cartoonist, director, screenwriter and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face. and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.- Biography :Bill Plympton was born in...
's The Flying House (1921-2011) - Family Weekend (2012)
- Ansiedad aka (*"See If I CareSee If I Care-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Richard Bennett – electric guitar*Lisa Cochran – background vocals*Chad Cromwell – drums*Eric Darken – percussion*Dan Dugmore – steel guitar*Stuart Duncan – fiddle*Mike Henderson – electric guitar...
") (2011) - The Dark Knight RisesThe Dark Knight RisesThe Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming epic superhero film. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight...
(2012)