Matt Dillon is a critically acclaimed American actor particularly known as a teen idol during the 1980s and for his performances in the films There’s Something About Mary, Wild Things and Crash.
The son of Mary Ellen Dillon, a homemaker and portrait painter and Union Camp manager Paul Dillon, Matt Dillon was born on February 8, 1964 in New Rochelle, New York. He grew in Mamaroneck, New York together with his five other siblings, and attended Mamaroneck High School but didn’t finish his studies.
Matt Dillon was discovered in 1979 by casting director Vic Ramos, who immediately cast him in Over the Edge. His impressive performance in the film landed him two more acting projects released in 1980, in the teenage sex comedy Little Darlings, in which he played Randy and in the teen drama My Bodyguard as the high school bully Moody.
In 1995, Dillon co-starred with Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix in the film adaptation To Die For, as the husband of Nicole Kidman’s character. In 1998, he co-starred with Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller in the romantic comedy There’s Something About Mary, playing Pat Healy, the private detective hired by Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) to find Mary Matthews (Cameron Diaz). His role in the film earned him an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. In that same year, Dillon co-starred with Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Kevin Bacon and Bill Murray in the steamy crime film Wild Things in which he played the high school guidance counselor Sam Lombardo accused of rape by Kelly Van Ryan (Richards) and Suzie Toller (Campbell).
In 2004, Dillon appeared in the drama film Crash, as the police molester Officer John Ryan. His outstanding performance in the film earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor as well as an Academy Award nomination.