Matthew Avery Modine
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In Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, Matthew Modine played Private Joker. He also appeared in Birdy, The Dark Knight Rises, and as Dr. Martin Brenner on Stranger Things. Modine was born in Loma Linda, California in 1959 and studied with Stella Adler. He is a producer, director, and founder of the Bicycle For A Day environmental initiative.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Matthew Modine — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Matthew Modine by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Matthew Modine — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
The youngest of seven children, Matthew Modine was born on March 22, 1959 in Loma Linda, California. His father, Mark Alexander Modine, managed a drive-in theater, and his mother, Dolores, worked as a bookkeeper. After graduating from Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, California, he moved to New York City in 1979 to pursue acting. At the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting, he began landing starring roles while still a student.
Modine’s breakout role came in 1984’s Birdy, a film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes. He followed with Full Metal Jacket 1987, playing Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War classic. Other films include The Dark Knight Rises 2012, Oppenheimer 2023 as Vannevar Bush, and Any Given Sunday 1999. On television, he played Sullivan Groff on Weeds and Dr. Martin Brenner on Netflix’s Stranger Things. Modine won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and received a Golden Globe nomination for What the Deaf Man Heard 1997. He has directed short films including When I Was a Boy 1993 and Ecce Pirate 1997.
Modine married Caridad Modine on October 31, 1980. They have two children: son Boman born 1985 and daughter Ruby born 1990, who is also an actress. Raised Mormon, he has said his family was not orthodox. He is a neighbor and friend of Liam Neeson, from whom he learned fly-fishing. He is also a horticulturist and carpenter.
Modine’s Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket defined a generation’s view of the Vietnam War. He founded Bicycle For A Day to promote cycling and reduce carbon footprints. He played Vannevar Bush in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer 2023. His collaboration with Stanley Kubrick and his role as Dr. Martin Brenner in Stranger Things remain highlights of his career.
The complete filmography of Matthew Modine — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Matthew Modine — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Matthew Modine — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Studied with Stella Adler. One of the First Things That She Said Was, If You’re Going to Stand on a Stage, Be Projected on a Motion Picture Screen, or Go into People’s Homes on Their Television, Then You Have a Responsibility – Not Just to Entertain. They’re Going to Be Inspired and Touched by the Things That You Do and the Things That You Say, and There’s a Responsibility That Comes with That, and That’s Not One That I Take Lightly.
The Thing About Working with Bob Was, It Wasn’t Just Those Times Working with Him on the Set, Unless You’re a Schmuck, You Become a Part of His Family. You’ll Meet with Him, Have Dinner with Him, and You Became a Part of His Life. Oftentimes You Work with People on a Film and Then Once You’ve Wrapped, You Never See Them Again. Altman Chose People That He Enjoyed Spending Time With, and Fortunately I Was One of Those People That Became a Part of His Extended Family.
I Love Alan Parker Because He’s Like an Inventor – They’re Ready to Close the Patent Office and He Comes Along with Something New and They Have to Open It Again.
They Used to Call Prisons Penitentiaries and the Root of That Word Is Penance. It’s so Important That If You Do a Crime, You Serve the Time and You Get Rehabilitated When You’re in the System, Whether It’s a Reform School or a Prison, and Come Out and Get on with Your Life. You Shouldn’t Be Continually Punished for Your Life for Having Made a Mistake. We Have to Go Back to That Idea Rather Than Creating Lifetime Criminals. We Need a System That Helps to Rehabilitate and Educate and Gives People Working Skills While They’re in Prison, so That When They Come Out They Can Get on with Their Lives.
I’ll Quote Harper Lee in Her Book to Kill a Mockingbird: We Never Really Understand Another Person Until We Get Inside Their Skin and Walk Around in It. That’s What Actors Do by Definition. I Think That Most People in the Arts Have a Wonderful Sense of Our Responsibility to One Another – How Important It Is to Have a Shared Humanity. Not to Demonize Other People That We Don’t Understand, but to Try to Understand Them.
I Want to Be Part of Solutions. I Don’t Want to Be an Actor Who Creates Problems, but I’ve Played Those Characters Who Create Problems!
There Is No Greater Educator Than the Theater. I Think That’s Very Important. When Kids Are in Acting Classes, They Shouldn’t Be Doing Scenes from TV Shows or Movies, They Should Be Doing Scenes from Plays, Working on Plays, Because There Are Bigger Ideas in Plays. There’s More to Explore and Investigate and More to Learn About How to Be a Storyteller.
For the Most Part, I’m Not Filled with Regret. I’m Pretty Thrilled and Happy with the Choices That I’ve Made.
Little-known facts about Matthew Modine — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
His teacher for fly-fishing is Liam Neeson.
He works as a horticulturist and a carpenter.
He is a neighbor of Liam Neeson.
He was originally offered Tom Cruise’s role in Top Gun 1986 but turned it down because he disagreed with the film’s cold-war politics.
He founded Bicycle For A Day BFAD, a global initiative bringing together people who choose to ride a bicycle rather than use gas-powered motor vehicles, immediately reducing their carbon footprint.
He is good friends with Eric Stoltz.
He attended Brigham Young University.
Martin Short’s Hollywood-obsessed character, Jiminy Glick, has sons named Matthew and Modine.
He has a son Boman Modine b. 8 November 1985 and a daughter Ruby Modine b. 31 July 1990.
David Alan Grier, who co-starred with him in Streamers 1983, was the godfather of his two children.
In a radio interview with Jonathan Ross in late February 2006, he said he was only baptized a Mormon, but the family wasn’t very orthodox or tight-knit, and only practiced seriously during his very early years.
He loves to paint.
His paternal great-grandfather, Andrew Daniel Andreassan Modine, was Swedish. His other ancestry is English, with some Scottish, German, and Dutch.
He studied acting with Stella Adler.
He starred in three movies about the Vietnam War: Streamers 1983, Birdy 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987.
He was friends with Edward Asner.
The Montreal-based band Pony up! wrote a song about him called Matthew Modine because one of the girls used to have a huge crush on him. The song can be found on the band’s first LP called Pony up!.
He was a member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994.
He is an alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
He is the nephew of former Broadway star Nola Modine Fairbanks.
He is the brother of Mark Modine.
He is the grandfather of Avery Modine, son of Boman Modine.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Matthew Modine.
Celebrities similar to Matthew Modine — same craft, ranked by reach.
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