What happened to Matt Dillon, the 80s icon who stars in Fernando Trueba’s new film (thanks to a dinner with Santiago Segura, Cruz and Tom Cruise)
Matt Dillon had worked in Europe before, but never with a Spanish director. It was Fernando Trueba who brought the 60-year-old actor to our country to promote the feature film Isla Perdida, which premiered last Friday, August 23, and is now in theaters. A thriller in the style of Patricia Highsmith’s novels, about a love relationship with disturbing and mysterious touches, co-sstarring Catalan Aida Folch.
“Some doors close because you get older, but others open. You learn, you have lived!” explained the 60-year-old actor to the newspaper a few days ago in the middle of the film’s campaign. Dillon began his acting career as a teenager. His beginnings have hints of a Hollywood movie: he skipped school and was recruited by a group of talent scouts. One afternoon in 1979, he decided not to go to Hommock High School in Larchmont (New York). By chance, he met the agents. They were looking for young boys for the film Into the Abyss, based on Jonathan Kaplan’s original Over the Edge, as well as other feature films such as Broken Dreams or Project X. In an interview with Andy Warhol and the filmmaker Maura Moynihan, the actor explained that “at first, he thought it was all a joke, although in order not to go back to school, he went to the audition.” His mother, Mary Ellen, a housewife, should not have been surprised by her son’s interest in the entertainment industry. His father, Paul Dillon, was a painter and businessman. His uncle, Alex Raymond, was a famous American cartoonist, creator of characters such as Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Rip Kirby. Kevin Dillon, one of his brothers, also followed in his footsteps as an actor.
“When I went to read the script, I looked at everything and said to myself, I’m not going to pass up this opportunity. I’m going to take it slow, but I’m going for it. I came home and said to my mother, ‘Mom, I’m going to star in this movie.’ She laughed. The statement was ridiculous because I had no guarantee of getting the part.” When Dillon auditioned, the film’s director, Vic Ramos, a Hollywood veteran, wrote in his notebook upon seeing it: “I should be a movie star.”
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