Matthew Modine

2.1.1. Film

Modine's film debut was in John Sayles' film Baby It's You (1983). In the same year, he co-starred in the sex comedy Private School alongside Phoebe Cates and Betsy Russell, a role that brought him considerable attention. His performances quickly caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest (1985), based on Terry Davis's novel.

Robert Altman further propelled Modine to international stardom with his 1983 film adaptation of David Rabe's play Streamers, for which Modine, as part of the ensemble cast, shared the Venice Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actor. In 1984, he played Mel Gibson's brother in Mrs. Soffel and starred with Nicolas Cage in Alan Parker's Birdy. Birdy received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Modine famously declined the role of LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun (which was ultimately played by Tom Cruise), citing his political stance against the film's pro-military message.

Modine is perhaps most recognized for his iconic portrayal of Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis, the central character in Stanley Kubrick's classic Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket (1987). Following this, Modine took on the role of Treat, a dangerous young criminal, in Alan Pakula's 1987 film adaptation of Lyle Kessler's stage play Orphans. In Jonathan Demme's 1988 screwball comedy Married to the Mob, Modine played the earnest FBI agent Mike Downey opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1990, he led the cast of Memphis Belle, a fictionalized account of the B-17 Flying Fortress.

His subsequent roles included Drake Goodman in the thriller Pacific Heights (1990), Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), and Dr. Ralph Wyman in the Robert Altman film Short Cuts (1993). For his work in And the Band Played On, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special. For his contribution to Short Cuts, he received a special Golden Globe Award as part of the ensemble cast.

In 1995, Modine appeared with Geena Davis in the romantic action-adventure film Cutthroat Island. He earned a second Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for his performance in the 1997 television film What the Deaf Man Heard. He played ex-football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey (2004), a film that, despite critical panning, gained a cult following. In Abel Ferrara's Mary (2005), which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, Modine portrayed a director recounting the story of Mary Magdalene. In 2010, Modine appeared in The Trial, a drama praised by the Parents Television Council. He also starred as John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, in HBO's Too Big to Fail (2010), a film about the Wall Street financial crisis.

Modine continued to appear in independent films such as Family Weekend (2013) and Girl in Progress (2012) alongside Eva Mendes. In 2012, he was cast as Deputy Commissioner Peter Foley, a Gotham City police officer, in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, a peer to Gary Oldman's Commissioner James Gordon. In 2013, he joined the cast of Ralph Bakshi's animated film Last Days of Coney Island after discovering its Kickstarter campaign. In 2014, he co-starred with Olivia Williams in the horror mystery film Altar.

In 2018, Modine was part of Speed Kills, portraying George H. W. Bush, and has appeared in films such as Foster Boy and Miss Virginia. In 2023, he portrayed Vannevar Bush in Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller Oppenheimer.

2.1.2. Television

Modine's television career began with an appearance in the 1982 ABC Afterschool Special episode "Amy & the Angel." He later portrayed Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993). In 2003, he guest-starred in The West Wing episode "The Long Goodbye" as Marco Arlens, a high school friend of C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney). He took the role because of his long-standing friendship with Janney, with whom he had previously worked in the play Breaking Up. That same year, he played Fritz Gerlich in the CBS miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil.

In 2006, he guest-starred as a serial killer in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Rage". From 2007, Modine played "Sullivan Groff", a corrupt Majestic City developer who had affairs with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) and Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins), throughout Season 3 of Weeds. In 2015, he played Ivan Turing in the TNT supernatural medical drama Proof.

In 2016, Modine began his recurring role as Dr. Martin Brenner in the Netflix original series Stranger Things. In 2017, he and his Stranger Things castmates received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He continued his role in the series through 2017 and 2022, with a projected appearance in 2025.

2.1.3. Theater

Modine has maintained a significant presence in theater throughout his career. He appeared in Arthur Miller's Finishing the Picture at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2004, and in Miller's Resurrection Blues at London's Old Vic in 2006. In 2009, he took on the iconic role of Atticus Finch in a stage adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird at Connecticut's Hartford Stage. This production became the most successful play in the theater's 45-year history. In 2022 and 2023, he reprised the role of Atticus Finch in the London production of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre. In 2010, he starred alongside Abigail Breslin in the 50th Anniversary Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker at the Circle in the Square theatre. In the fall of 2013, Modine starred in a self-parodying comedy titled Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles.