He was born Matthew Lynn Lillard, in Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday, the 24th of January, 1970. (For those who are interested in such things, that makes him an Aquarius in the western astrological system, and a Rooster in the Chinese one.) When he was six months old, his parents moved to the Pennsbury Village apartment complex near Crafton, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Three years later, his parents moved again, this time to Detroit, Michigan. Here, Matthew spent about two years in a cooperative nursery school. When he was 5 years old, his family moved yet again, this time to Brighton, Michigan, where Matthew started kindergarten at the Brighton Elementary School. At the end of his first semester of first grade, his parents moved a final time, to Tustin, California, where he would spend his formative years.

From then on, Matthew attended Tustin public schools until his graduation from Foothill High, in 1988. Allegedly, he was the class clown throughout his entire scholastic career - which is surely no surprise to anyone who's seen "Hackers". According to his own account, he was only 5'7" in High School (as opposed to his adult height of 6'3"), and he was also a little on the pudgy side. He was also a huge lover of soccer, and served as goalie on most of his school teams from 3rd grade through to graduation. It was also in school that he discovered both girls (when Kelly Sawyer gave him his first kiss in a seventh grade game of spin-the-bottle) and acting.

In his 8th grade speech class' presentation of "Greed for Gold", he played the villain, and loved it. From that night on, he knew that he wanted to act. Acting was a means of escape from the pressures of high school (he considered himself fat, and so this way, he could get his mind off his "problem").

He went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasedena, Ca. Later, in 1989, he moved to New York to attend the prestigious Circle in the Square Theatrical School, where he stayed for two years. (Other alumni of this school include Mili Avital, Robert Picardo and the ubiquitous Kevin Bacon.) He and his best friend Dalton Grant founded the Mean Street Ensemble theatre company, whose first production was "Tracers" (opening on July 4th, 1991). The ensemble was a success for about a year, but worsening internal politics (and Matthew's departure) led to it dissolving later in 1991. Matthew had a brief affair with Christine Taylor (who played Marcia in the Brady Bunch movies), which ended with her dumping him.

The summer after he graduated high school he was hired as an extra in "Ghoulies 3; Ghoulies go to College" - in which he was credited as Matthew Lynn. Although only an extra, he had a line, which led to a SAG card and an agent. Also in 1989, Nickelodeon chose him to MC their program SK8 TV. Things were looking up.

While he was still at Circle in the Square, in 1994, his manager, Bill Treusch, got him an audition for "Serial Mom" - which he aced, getting the role of Chip Sutphin. This was only his third audition for a movie, ever. He also got involved with the founding of The Summoners Ensemble. (His most recent performance with them was in "G.O.D.").

Matthew moved back to California as his star began to ascend. The year after he did "Serial Mom", he was in "Mad Love" with Drew Barrymore and Chris McDonell, and also in "Hackers" as Emmanuel Goldstein (aka Cereal Killer). In 1996, he starred in "Scream" with Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich and Neve Cambpell, with whom he was briefly involved romantically.

Matthew Lillard had well and truly arrived. If there was any remaining doubt about that point, it was quashed on June 12th, 1997, when, along with several other members of the "Scream" cast, he accepted the MTV Movie Award for Best Picture - and followed it up just 18 days later with an appearance as Guest VJ on MTV's Motel California.

His subsequent films have included: "Senseless", "She's All That", "SLC Punk", "Telling You" and "The Curve" (also known as "Dead Man's Curve").