Ryan Phillippe

Matthew Ryan Phillippe is an American actor born on September 10, 1974. He gained wider recognition in the late 1990s following his feature film debut in Crimson Tide and his role as Billy Douglas on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live. He is best known for starring in prominent films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, 54, Playing by Heart, and Cruel Intentions.

Phillippe was raised in New Castle, Delaware, by his mother Susan, who ran a home day care center, and his father Richard Phillippe, a chemist. He grew up alongside three sisters and is of part French descent. During his youth, he earned a black belt in taekwondo, and he graduated from Barbizon in Wilmington, Delaware. His entry into professional acting occurred after signing with Cathy Parker Management in Voorhees, New Jersey.

Between 1992 and 1993, Phillippe portrayed Billy Douglas on One Life to Live, playing the first gay teenager on a daytime soap opera. Following his tenure on the series, he relocated to Los Angeles and appeared in television shows including Matlock, Due South, and the miniseries The Secrets of Lake Success. He made his feature film debut in the 1995 film Crimson Tide, followed by a role in the 1996 movie White Squall.

His breakthrough came with the successful 1997 horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer, which led to high-profile roles in 54, Playing by Heart, and the 1999 teen hit Cruel Intentions. Throughout the 2000s, Phillippe took on diverse roles in movies such as The Way of the Gun, Antitrust, Igby Goes Down, and The I Inside. He co-starred in Robert Altman's Academy Award-nominated Gosford Park and the Oscar-winning feature Crash, as well as playing Navy corpsman John Bradley in Clint Eastwood's war drama Flags of Our Fathers.

Phillippe expanded his filmography with appearances in Breach, Chaos, Five Fingers, Stop-Loss, and Franklyn. In 2010, he played Lt. Dixon Piper in the comedy MacGruber, hosting Saturday Night Live and co-hosting WWE Raw to promote the project. He also portrayed real-life photographer Greg Marinovich in The Bang Bang Club and starred in the 2011 film adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, alongside roles in Setup, Revenge for Jolly!, and Straight A's.

In addition to acting, Phillippe made his directorial debut with the 2014 indie thriller Catch Hell, which he also co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in. He runs the production company Lucid Films alongside Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, and David E. Siegal, serving as executive producer and narrator for the documentary Isolated.

Phillippe's later television work includes a 10-episode arc on Damages, starring in ABC's Secrets and Lies, and taking on the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger on USA Network's Shooter from 2016 to 2018. His subsequent credits include the ABC drama Big Sky, the action film One Shot, and reprising his role as Dixon Piper in the 2021 Peacock adaptation of MacGruber.