Matt Dillon

Actor, Writer, Director

Birthdate: February 18, 1964 (62 Years Old)

Birthplace: New Rochelle, New York, USA

Matt Dillon (birthname: Matthew Raymond Dillon) has always benefited from being under-estimated, playing off a misleading image as, in his own words, “a thug,” to reveal an actor with considerable layers and emotional temperatures. That underestimation has resulted, ironically, in several career achievement awards, including from the Orange Antalya and San Sebastian Film Festivals, and, in 2022, from the Locarno Film Festival. Although Matt Dillon’s “tough” image was established from the start with his bracing debut performance in Jonathan Kaplan’s Over the Edge (1979), and in the hit comedy-drama My Bodyguard (1980), with Chris Makepeace and Adam Baldwin, he displayed more sensitive sides in the romantic working-class drama, Liar’s Moon (1982), and in three consecutive films adapted from the fiction of S.E. Hinton: Tim Hunter’s Tex (1982), with Meg Tilly and Ben Johnson; Francis Ford Coppola’s indie-feeling The Outsiders (1983), with Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, and Ralph Maccio; and Coppola’s follow-up Hinton drama, Rumble Fish (1983), with Lane, Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, and Mickey Rourke. The triple play firmly established Dillon as a significant face of American independent cinema, which made his move to a Garry Marshall studio comedy, The Flamingo Kid (1984), somewhat surprising, as much as his turn to a debut on the Broadway stage with The Boys of Winter. An important artistic move for Dillon was co-starring with Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn’s thriller, Target (1985); he has since cited his time working with Hackman and Penn as having a fundamental influence on his acting and work. Dillon then appeared in an underseen version of Richard Wright’s Native Son (1986), co-starring Victor Love, Carroll Baker, Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth McGovern, and Geraldine Page; he then reunited with Lane for the noirish The Big Town (1987), with Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Dern, Lee Grant, and Tom Skerritt. Matt Dillon’s indie cred catapulted in 1989 as the co-star with Kelly Lynch in Gus Van Sant’s breakthrough film, Drugstore Cowboy (1989), a vivid true-crime tale of drug addiction in the Portland area, with James LeGros, Heather Graham, Grave Zabriskie, and novelist William S. Burroughs. Dillon’s next major work was again with Van Sant in, To Die For (1995), with Nicole Kidman, followed by John McNaughton’s hit noir Wild Things (1998), with Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, and Bill Murray, and the Farrelly Brothers’ smash comedy hit, There’s Something About Mary (1998), with Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller, and Chris Elliott, and earning an extraordinary (for an American comedy) $369 million worldwide box office. Dillon secured his first project as writer-director-star (co-written with novelist Barry Gifford) with the crime thriller, City of Ghosts (2002), with James Caan, Stellan Skarsgård, and Gérard Depardieu, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2004, Matt Dillon received universal acclaim and many award nominations (including a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nom) for his role as a cop in Paul Haggis’ Best Picture-winning Crash (2004), with Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Ryan Phillippe. Dillon rejoined Bacon for Bacon’s own directed film, Loverboy (2005), with Kyra Sedgwick and Oliver Platt; acted in his first European film, Bent Hamer’s Factotum (2005), based on Charlies Bukowski’s writings; co-starred with Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson in the Russo Brothers’ comedy, You, Me and Dupree (2006); and joined the ensemble of Shari Spring Berman’s and Robert Pulcini’s comedy Girl Most Likely (2012), with Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, and Natasha Lyonne. Matt Dillon continued to work in varied tempos and styles, as in the Tribeca-premiering marriage drama, Sunlight Jr. (2013), with Naomi Watts, Tess Harper, and Norman Reedus. Dillon made his boldest artistic move after a period of minor films with Lars von Trier’s stark, surreal serial killer tale, The House That Jack Built (2018), featuring Dillon in easily his darkest role, with Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Riley Keough, and Jeremy Davies. Dillon continued to work with European filmmakers, this time with French filmmaker Alice Winocour for the female astronaut drama, Proxima (2019), with the fine cast of Eva Green, Lars Eidinger, and Sandra Hüller. Dillon played support in the Josh Trank true-crime portrait of the American gangster, Capone (2020), with Tom Hardy, Jack Lowden, and Kyle MacLachlan. In a major departure, Dillon made his first documentary (as director and producer) on one of his personal obsessions—Cuban music—with El Gran Fellove (2020), a study of Cuban scat-singer Francisco Fellove. In another unusual gambit, Dillon joined fellow actors Sheila Vand, Isabella Rossellini, Anna Gunn, and Christopher McDonald for the Shoja Azri/Shirin Neshat comedy, Land of Dreams (2021), notable for being based on one of the final screenplays by Jean-Claude Carrière, who died the same year. At the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, Dillon’s next indie film was Paul Doktor/Theodore Melfi’s black comedy, American Dreamer, with Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, and Danny Glover. For the first time, Dillon has joined the regular ensemble of writer-director Wes Anderson for Asteroid City (2022), with Anderson's newbies Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Fisher Stevens, Steve Carell, and Rita Wilson. Dillon tackled a rare project in which he portrays an actual figure, with An Ocean Apart (date to be announced), in which he played journalist Nelson Algren opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Simone de Beauvoir.

Personal Life
Movies
Facts
FAQs

Personal life

Matt Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in Mamaroneck, New York by his father Paul, and mother Mary Dillon in New Rochelle, New York. His father was a golf coach at Fordham University, a sales manager, a portrait painter, and a toy bear manufacturer. Matt Dillon has five siblings, including actors Kevin and Paul Dillon, as well as Katy, Timothy, and Brian. His grand-uncle is Alex Raymond, creator of Flash Gordon. While attending (and ditching classes) at Hommocks Middle School near Mamaroneck, Dillon was scouted for the cast of Jonathan Kaplan’s acclaimed youth drama, Over the Edge (1979). Dillon was in a relationship with Cameron Diaz from 1996 to 1998. Dillon’s height is 5’ 10¾”. His net worth is $40 million.

Known For

I Play Rocky

(2026)

Being Maria

Marlon Brando (2025)

Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.

Self (2022)

Rock Dog

Trey (2017)

Awards

Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards (2006); Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA Awards (2006); Winner, Lifetime Success Award, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (2017); Two-time Winner, Best Male Lead/Best Supporting Actor, Independent Spirit Award (1990, 2006); Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globes Awards (2006); Nominee, Best Spoken Word Album, Grammy Awards (2001); Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award, Locarno Film Festival (2022); Winner, Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award, San Sebastian Film Festival (2006); Winner, Best Motion Picture Cast, Screen Actors Guild Awards (2006).

Independent Spirit Award

Independent Spirit Award

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Oscar

Oscar

Academy Awards, USA

BAFTA Film Award

BAFTA Film Award

BAFTA Awards

Matt Dillon Movies

Actor

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Previous (14)

2025 |
Being Maria
Being Maria
2025
Biography, Drama, History
Maria Schneider's rise to fame after "Last Tango in Paris" and its controversial production's impact on her life and career.
asMarlon Brando
2024 |
Haunted Heart
Haunted Heart
2024
Romance, Thriller
When Alex joins the team of a boutique seaside restaurant, sexual tensions rise as she falls for the enigmatic restaurant manager Max. Blinded by her feelings, the relationship slowly slides into a harrowing tale of survival.
asMax
2024 |
American Dreamer
American Dreamer
2024
Comedy
Phil's a dreamer. Most dreams don't come true. Phil hates that. But that's not going to stop Phil from dreaming.
asDell
2022 |
Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.
Freakscene: The Story of Dinosaur Jr.
2022
Documentary, Music
Homage of one of the most influential bands on the American East Coast, which inspired the rock scene - an emotional, tragically funny and sometimes noisy roller-coaster ride by a dysfunctional family - Dinosaur Jr.
asSelf
2018 |
Running for Grace
Running for Grace
2018
Family, Romance
A timeless tale that takes place against the backdrop of the segregated coffee fields in 1920s Hawaii - a coming-of-age journey about a young man who transcends the boundaries of race and class in pursuit of a forbidden love.
asDoc
2018 |
Head Full of Honey
Head Full of Honey
2018
Comedy, Drama
A man suffering from Alzheimer's embarks on a final road trip with his granddaughter.
More Info
asNick
2018 |
The House That Jack Built
The House That Jack Built
2018
Crime, Drama, Horror
In five episodes, failed architect and vicious sociopath Jack recounts his elaborately orchestrated murders -- each, as he views them, a towering work of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest.
asJack
2017 |
Going in Style
Going in Style
2017
Comedy, Crime
Desperate to pay their bills and support their loved ones, lifelong pals Willy Davis, Albert Gardner, and Joe Harding risk it all by robbing the bank that absconded with the pension money that they earned from working there for years.
asFBI Agent Arlen Hamer
2017 |
Rock Dog
Rock Dog
2017
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Music
When a radio falls from the sky into the hands of a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, he leaves home to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician, setting into motion a series of completely unexpected events.
asTrey
2017 |
City of Ghosts
City of Ghosts
2017
Documentary, War
The anonymous activists who exposed ISIS atrocities in Raqqa. Follows their undercover operations, exile, and risks taken to reveal the ruthless realities under ISIS rule.
asJimmy
-- |
as Jack
-- |
as Dallas Winston
-- |
as Frank Stallone Sr.
-- |
as Richie

Director

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Previous (1)

2017 |
City of Ghosts
City of Ghosts
2017
Documentary, War
The anonymous activists who exposed ISIS atrocities in Raqqa. Follows their undercover operations, exile, and risks taken to reveal the ruthless realities under ISIS rule.

Writer

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Previous (1)

2017 |
City of Ghosts
City of Ghosts
2017
Documentary, War
The anonymous activists who exposed ISIS atrocities in Raqqa. Follows their undercover operations, exile, and risks taken to reveal the ruthless realities under ISIS rule.

Facts About Matt Dillon

Humanitarian: Matt Dillon has worked with Amani Global Works in the Democratic Republic of Congo to improve health care. Music Collector: Dillon claims a large vinyl collection, particularly Cuban music on 78rpm discs.