Biography for
Matt Dillon (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 February 1964, New Rochelle, New York, USA

Birth Name

Matthew Raymond Dillon

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Originally a teen star (generally in "troubled youth" roles), who has since matured into one of Hollywood's most enjoyable actors to watch on screen with a wonderful versatility in his acting range, tall, lean and handsome Matt Dillon was born in February 1964 in New Rochelle, New York, and was discovered by pure chance. Talent scouts were roaming the halls of Hommocks School, spied the good-looking Dillon, and asked him to attend a casting call. He showed up, put on a swagger and petulant attitude for the casting director and landed his first film role, appearing in Over the Edge (1979), a "troubled-youth" film about bored Colorado teenagers fighting developers, their parents and the police. His next role was as a teen bully who gets his comeuppance in the "feel-good" movie My Bodyguard (1980). He was the object of teenage female desire in Little Darlings (1980), and followed that as a poor boy eloping with a rich girl in Liar's Moon (1982).

Dillon was now a hot property, and his next three film roles were in quality productions of best selling novels by author S.E. Hinton that cemented him as the US' #1 teen star. First he starred as a fatherless country boy in Tex (1982), then he headlined a cast of superb young actors, including Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, in the moving The Outsiders (1983), and finally he was back in trouble once more in the superb Rumble Fish (1983).

As his looks matured, Dillon moved into broader roles such as the smooth-talking Brooklyn teenager conning everyone at a posh Florida country club in The Flamingo Kid (1984). He made his first foray into adult action with Gene Hackman in the thriller _Target (1985/I)_ , followed by several B-grade romantic efforts, before striking gold with the critics with his performance in the uncompromising 'Gus van Sant' film about drug addicts, Drugstore Cowboy (1989). Unfortunately, his next few films fell back into a degree of mediocrity until another intriguing performance as a young schizophrenic in The Saint of Fort Washington (1993), then another romantic comedy role in Mr. Wonderful (1993). He worked again with van Sant as naive husband Larry Maretto opposite murderous Nicole Kidman in the icy thriller To Die For (1995).

Dillon remained busy and turned in excellent performances in the sexy thriller of murder and double-crosses, Wild Things (1998). He was hilarious as a sleazy private eye lovestruck by Cameron Diaz in the box-office smash There's Something About Mary (1998). He starred in the black comedy One Night at McCool's (2001), made his feature film directorial debut with City of Ghosts (2002), had a day that goes from bad to worse in Employee of the Month (2004). And, for his work in the Best Picture Academy Award winner Crash (2004/I), Dillon received a long-overdue Oscar nomination, as Best Supporting Actor.

IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com

Trivia

His grandmother, Bea Dillon, is the sister of two famous artists: Alex Raymond and Jim Raymond. Alex Raymond was the creator of the cartoon strip, Flash Gordon; and also Jungle Jim and Rip Kirby. Jim Raymond drew Blondie for Chic Young for about 40 years.

Brother of Kevin Dillon and Paul Dillon.

Cites Gene Hackman as a major idol and influence on his work, especially after working with him in Target (1985).

Dated Cameron Diaz for several years in the late 1990's.

Original choice for Frank Sangster role in Novocaine (2001).

Original choice for "Butch Coolidge" in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Was the original choice for the role of Richard in The Blue Lagoon (1980), but turned the role down because of the nudity.

He is the second child of six. His brothers and sisters are: Paul (born 1962), Kevin (born 1965), Katy (born 1966), Timothy (born 1969) and Brian (born 1972).

His parents are Mary Ellen and Paul Dillon

Enjoys frequenting flea markets.

Has a large vinyl record collection.

Is a big fan of Cuban music.

Has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia.

Is a New York Mets baseball fan and collects Mookie Wilson baseball cards.

"Matt Dillon" is also the fictional name of the hero of "Gunsmoke" (1955), television's longest-running ever western series (20 years from 1955 to 1975). The hero, a U.S. Marshal for Dodge City, was played by James Arness.

Is a runner, and regularly runs through Central Park in New York, where he lives. Usually he is not recognized.

Uncle of Kevin Dillon's daughters Amy and Ava.

Irish American.

Spent New Year 2005 in Brazil.

Played a lead role in three of author S.E. Hinton's books made into movies consecutively: Tex (1982), The Outsiders (1983), and Rumble Fish (1983).

Has been good friends with Fisher Stevens since filming The Flamingo Kid together.

Vacationed in Ischia, Italy. [July 2008]

He is left-handed.

Personal Quotes

There were certain perceptions that people had of me, you know...'He's dumb,' or 'he's just got a pretty face,' or 'he's a thug,' or 'he can only do one thing.' I'm not so concerned with that now. Longevity's what it's about.

New York is a vibrant city. There is so much to do here. It's so diverse. But in L.A., the whole town seems to revolve around the industry. That's a good thing when you need to go for work and stuff like that, and I have a lot of friends out there -- a lot of longtime friends -- but I don't want to live there. I just don't like it. In L.A. you can spend days without seeing another person. You see other people in your car, but without really making contact with them. I mean you really exist that way!

A lot of people say I've missed out on a lot because I started acting at such a young age. What's so obvious to me is that I actually was really lucky. I gained a lot and I got a head start in what I wanted to do in life. A lot of people in their late 20s, early 30s are just beginning to figure out where they want to go.

If there's something to work with that's good and if there's a conflict of the characters, that makes it more juicy, something colorful. A good script and director, of course, are the most important things. Sometimes I feel like I've done really good work, but it doesn't matter if the film doesn't work. The kind of films where I think the film worked, like The Flamingo Kid or Drugstore Cowboy or even Rumble Fish or The Saint of Fort Washington -- they didn't do that well at the box office.

To be honest with you, there's nothing that bores me more than sitting around with a bunch of actors talking shop. I love actors and I've got friends that are actors. They're interesting people. But for some reason, usually when it comes round to talking shop, there's a part of me that doesn't like it.

"You can't get a place more conflicted than Cambodia. You come up with ideas as you go. Film ideas come into your head. Sometimes you write them down. Sometimes they just pass you by. This one goes back to `93 when I went to Phnom Penh. It was an extended vacation and I knew very little of Cambodia. What I knew of it was The Killing Fields. What really opened my eyes and surprised me was how beautiful the country was. Phnom Penh was this partially destroyed city but a lot of it had been preserved. The royal palace is there and all the pagodas along the Mekong River. It was a real contrast from say, Bangkok. There was also this palpable sense of danger. There were a number of ex-pats I met too and these people were as interesting as the places. Guys that had opened bars and felt like they couldn't go back. About a year later I read an article in the Tribune that Cambodia was being used as a fugitive haven. It sort of presented itself to me as an opportunity to do something really interesting." - On what inspired Dillon to base City of Ghosts in Cambodia.

I think more in terms of the work. I don't think about being a celebrity. I don't preoccupy myself too much with being famous. I don't try to hold on to some kind of image. I remember sometimes thinking people thought of me this way or that. But I did not want to be considered a star. I always just wanted to be considered an actor. That is what I do and that is what I pride myself on--my work. That is what counts.

Some jobs, while you are making them, you find yourself living the part. You dream about them. You wake up thinking about it. That is a good sign. That was Drugstore Cowboy. It was cool. It was fun to make. It was a small crew. The actors were great. It worked. It was one of those things where if it worked, it would be one of those things that was different and unique. And it turned out that way. Gus Van Sant was great. He thought more like an artist than just a straight-headed filmmaker. It is great to work with someone like that.

I do a movie and I hope everybody gets to see it. I'm not somebody who only makes cult movies. Sometimes they become cult movies and that's fine, but that's not why I make movies. I would love to do a really good audience picture, but sometimes it just doesn't get offered to you and that's just the way the ball bounces. I want to do big movies. I like big escapist films, certain action films, like The Fugitive.

There's a lot more that I am capable of doing than I have done. There's a lot more that I have to offer people. Some people would be surprised. If you really look at my body of work, it's not nearly as typecast as one might think. I have done a lot of roles and not just played brooding, angry young men.

There is something about Cuba. There's no doubt. There's something romantic about the place, even now with everything going on. Just look at the music, among other things. Some of the greatest music ever came out of Cuba in the '50s, '40s and '30s.

I won an Indie Spirit Award a few years ago for 'Drugstore Cowboy,' but you never think about awards when you're doing a movie.

Comedy is the hardest thing for me.

I don't worry about whether a character is likable, as long as the character is believable.

You learn tolerance and patience when you become famous or you get in a lot of trouble. I work on my self-destructive behaviors. I try to get past them. There've been times when I'm very prone toward anger. And if I look at my anger, there's usually fear behind it. Some sort of fear of something.

Yeah, I was a little wild and on a course for misspent youth, you know what I mean? But my parents made it very clear what was unacceptable, and that saved me. I have to be honest. I got out lucky.

I'm not particularly interested in my past. I'm interested in my life now. I'm into the future. I mean, I feel like every time I do one of these things [interview], everyone's always like, 'What was it like to be discovered?' When, sort of, like, really, at this point in time, I'm just here with you.

[on working with Gene Hackman on "Target"] Gene Hackman's good to work with. We really work together, y'know? He gives a lot and likes it when you give. It's hard to find actors you actually deal with, and he deals with you.

I like to travel and I love absorbing other cultures.

(On what inspired him to base City of Ghosts in Cambodia) Because when I traveled there I would see foreigners and westerners who interest me as much as the place itself. These were people that had some kind of history and some kind of past that whom I felt were running from something. They were Americans, Europeans, and Australians who tended to be very secretive about what they were doing, where they were and there was this air of mystery about them; these sorts of people interested me and I found the end of the line kind of thing was something that I wanted to explore. These people, the guy that's on the run, existed and was not something I came up with because I had seen an old movie.

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