Matthew Modine was the youngest of seven children and grew up surrounded by Mormon family members. He also spent a lot of his childhood in Salt Lake City and Provo.

After graduating from high school, Modine moved to New York to pursue his acting career, but struggled to het a foothold. His uncle (who was Mormon) convinced Modine to move to Provo and attend theater classes at BYU. After a month, Modine felt he had made a huge mistake and dropped out.

Not being LDS may not be the biggest mistake Modine has ever made. He also turned down the role of Maverick in "Top Gun".