Matthew Avery Modine born March 22, [ 1 ] is an American actor and filmmaker. He went on to play lead roles in several high-profile films throughout the s, including Birdy , Vision Quest , and Married to the Mob He gained further prominence for playing U. Marine James T. On television, he portrayed Dr. Martin Brenner on Netflix's Stranger Things β He is the nephew of the stage actress Nola Modine Fairbanks , and the great-grandson of the prospector and pioneer Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks.
The drive-in theaters his father managed were being torn down because the land beneath them exceeded the value of the theaters. His performances caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who cast him in Vision Quest , filmed , based on Terry Davis's novel. The director Robert Altman propelled Modine to international stardom with his film adaptation of David Rabe 's play Streamers.
Modine played Mel Gibson 's brother in Mrs. Subsequently, Modine played the dangerous young criminal Treat in Alan Pakula 's film adaptation of Lyle Kessler 's stageplay Orphans. In , Modine appeared opposite Geena Davis in the romantic action-adventure film Cutthroat Island. Modine made his feature directorial debut with If He portrayed the character Marco, who went to high school with C. Cregg Allison Janney and who helped her deal with her father's steady mental decline due to Alzheimer's disease.
Modine agreed to take the role because he is a longtime friend of Janney. The two appeared together in a theatrical production of the play Breaking Up directed by Stuart Ross. The film was critically panned, yet has gained a cult status. The PTC said: "'The Trial' combines the best features of courtroom drama, murder mystery, and character story.
The film tells the story of a Thinker Modine who ends up in Thinkers Anonymous. In , he completed Jesus Was a Commie , an avant-garde- dialectical conversation about the world and the prominent issues of modern society. Modine's short films have played internationally.
