← Back to explore

Ryan Phillippe

Acting

Born September 10, 1974 · New Castle, Delaware, USA

Also known as Matthew Ryan Phillippe

Biography

Matthew Ryan Phillippe (/ˈfɪlɪpi/; born September 10, 1974) is an American actor. After appearing as Billy Douglas on the soap opera One Life to Live (1992–1993) and making his feature film debut in Crimson Tide (1995), he came to prominence in the late 1990s with starring roles in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), 54 (1998), Playing by Heart (1998), and Cruel Intentions (1999). Throughout the 2000s and beyond, he took on a range of roles in films such as The Way of the Gun (2000), Antitrust (2001), Gosford Park (2001), Igby Goes Down (2002), The I Inside (2003), Crash (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Breach (2007), Stop-Loss (2008), MacGruber (2010), The Bang Bang Club (2010), and The Lincoln Lawyer (2011). Outside of film, Phillippe appeared in the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger on USA Network's Shooter (2016–2018) and reprised his portrayal of Dixon Piper in the Peacock adaptation of MacGruber (2021). In 1997, Phillippe met actress Reese Witherspoon at a party for her 21st birthday. Phillippe and Witherspoon, who was six months pregnant, married on June 5, 1999. Their daughter Eva was born in 1999 and their son Deacon was born in 2003. On October 30, 2006, the couple released a statement announcing that they were formally separating. Witherspoon filed for divorce on November 8, 2006, citing  irreconcilable differences as the cause. The couple's marriage officially ended on October 5, 2007, with final divorce arrangements settled on June 13, 2008, according to court documents. They shared joint custody of their children. He began dating model and actress Alexis Knapp in May 2010; they ended their relationship in September that same year. After their breakup, Knapp discovered that she was pregnant by Phillippe and gave birth to a daughter in 2011. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ryan Phillippe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography50+ titles

Motorheads

2025as Logan Maddox

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

2013as Milton

The Eric Andre Show

2012as Self

The Outer Limits

1995as Russell 'Rusty' Dobson

Robot Chicken

2005as Reggie Mantle (voice)

Clint Eastwood: Hollywood Outlaw

2020as Self

Damages

2007as Channing McClaren

Secrets and Lies

2015as Ben Crawford

King of the Hill

1997as Wally (voice)

Big Sky

2020as Cody Hoyt

Shooter

2016as Bob Lee Swagger

The Lincoln Lawyer

2011as Louis Roulet

Crash

2004as Officer Tom Hansen

Crimson Tide

1995as Seaman Grattam

One Mile: Chapter One

2026as Danny

My Darling Vivian

2020as Self (archive footage)

Matlock

1986as Michael

Flags of Our Fathers

2006as John 'Doc' Bradley

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self - Cameo (uncredited)

One Mile: Chapter Two

2026as Danny

Miranda's Victim

2023as John Flynn

Drunk History

2013as Benjamin Hayes

Gosford Park

2001as Henry Denton

Cruel Intentions

1999as Sébastian Valmont

Nowhere

1997as Shad

Raw

1993as Lt. Dixon Piper

One Shot

2021as Jack Yorke

Men at Work

2012as Ryan Phillippe

The Bang Bang Club

2010as Greg Marinovich

Breach

2007as Eric O'Neill

Igby Goes Down

2002as Oliver

Playing by Heart

1998as Keenan

I Love That for You

2022as Ryan Phillippe

The Kelly Clarkson Show

2019as Self

Visible: Out on Television

2020as Self

Chaos

2005as Det. Shane Dekker

The Way of the Gun

2000as Mr. Parker

White Squall

1996as Gil Martin

Return to Sender

2015as UPS Delivery Guy

Stop-Loss

2008as Brandon King

Prey

2024as Andrew

MacGruber

2021as Dixon Piper

Franklyn

2008as Preest

Five Fingers

2006as Martijn

Antitrust

2001as Milo Hoffman

I Know What You Did Last Summer

1997as Barry Cox

The Locksmith

2023as Miller Graham

American Murderer

2022as Special Agent Lance Leising

The I Inside

2004as Simon Cable

54

1998as Shane O'Shea