Youngest of 7 children born to Mark and Dolores Modine. He was raised in a Mormon family, which was forced to move every couple of years because his father worked as a drive-in movie operator. All of the children worked in the drive-ins. After seeing a documentary about the film Oliver!, Modine decided he wanted to become an actor. After high school, he dropped out of BYU and worked several odd jobs before moving to New York in 1979. He landed a job as a chef at Au Natural in Manhattan, where he met his wife, Cari. They married a year later, and Matthew began landing roles in film, and later theatre and TV. He and his family live at Arbolay, a 100-acre farm in Upstate Millbrook, New York.
Good friends with Eric Stoltz. Son Boman (b. 1985/6) and daughter Ruby (b. 1990/1) Was originally offered Tom Cruise's role in Top Gun. Turned down the part because he disagreed with the film's cold-war politics. Loves the New York Knicks. Does not own a TV. Is a neighbor of Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. Learning to fly-fish; his teacher is Liam Neeson. Is a horticulturist and a carpenter. Loves to paint. Studied acting with Stella Adler. 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. You can find the song on the band first LP called "Pony up!". Brother of Mark Modine. On a radio interview with Jonathan Ross in late February 2006, he said he was only baptised a Mormon, but the family wasn't very orthodox or 'tight-knit', and only practiced seriously during his very early years. Attended BYU First cousin of baseball hall of famer George Brett.