Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon is an accomplished American actor, celebrated for his role as Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO series *Entourage*, which aired from 2004 to 2011. Born on August 18, 1965, in Mamaroneck, New York, Dillon initially aspired to be a commercial artist but shifted his focus to acting during high school, inspired by his older brother, Matt Dillon. He began his acting career in the early 1980s, with notable early films including *Heaven Help Us* (1985) and *Platoon* (1986), where he often portrayed tough, rebellious characters.
Dillon gained significant recognition for his work on *Entourage*, earning multiple Emmy nominations and acclaim from critics, which helped establish his identity in Hollywood beyond being "Matt Dillon's brother." His career has spanned various genres, including films like *The Doors* (1991) and *Poseidon* (2006), as well as guest appearances on several television shows. In addition to his professional achievements, Dillon's personal life includes a marriage to model Jane Stuart in 2006, with whom he has a daughter, and he has another daughter from a previous relationship. Despite his challenges, Dillon remains a respected figure in the entertainment industry, known for his dynamic performances and enduring presence in film and television.
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Subject Terms
Kevin Dillon
Actor
- Born: August 19, 1965
- Place of Birth: Mamaroneck, New York
Contribution: Kevin Dillon is a Golden Globe– and Emmy-nominated actor best known for appearing in Heaven Help Us (1985), Platoon (1986), and the television series Entourage (2004–11).
Background
Kevin Brady Dillon was born on August 18, 1965, in Mamaroneck, New York. He was one of six children of Paul Dillon, a sales manager and portrait painter, and Mary Ellen, a housewife. Dillon had originally planned to become a commercial artist and had studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. While in high school, however, he became interested in acting, following the lead of his older brother, Matt Dillon. He arranged a meeting with his brother’s agent, who had secured Matt’s acting debut in the 1982 film Tex, and the acquaintance proved fruitful; Dillon got his own start the following year.
Career
Dillon debuted in the 1983 television film No Big Deal. He played an uncontrollable teenaged delinquent who rejects the standard social rules at his new high school. This early role would define the majority of the rest of his career, as Dillon has frequently been cast in tough-guy parts. In 1985, he was cast as a troublemaking student at a Catholic school in the 1950s period film Heaven Help Us.
The next year saw Dillon in a prominent role in Oliver Stone’s high-profile Vietnam War film Platoon. Again, Dillon played a swaggering, unscrupulous character, this time a soldier named Bunny who breaks the rules of war during the occupation of a Vietnamese village. In 1988, Dillon got the chance to show his serious side when he played a young American Indian in War Party, a film about Indian-white relations. Also in 1988, he starred in The Rescue, about a group of teenagers attempting to break their Navy SEAL fathers out of a North Korean prison. For this role, Dillon was nominated for a Young Artist Award. The following year, he was again nominated for a Young Artist Award, for his role in the made-for-TV movie When He’s Not a Stranger.
Though his image as a bad boy continued to follow him, Dillon took on a number of more diverse roles in the early to mid-1990s. He again teamed up with director Oliver Stone to appear as drummer John Densmore in the 1991 biopic The Doors. The next year he appeared as a World War II soldier in A Midnight Clear and as Errol Flynn’s son in the television film Frankie’s House.
This rapid-fire succession of film roles did not prove predictive of Dillon’s future. Though he did land a number of leading roles in several films of the mid-to-late 1990s—including No Escape (1994), True Crime (1996), and The Pathfinder (1996)—Dillon turned his attention to television by the new millennium.
He auditioned for—but ultimately did not get—the part of Danny Sorensen on NYPD Blue, though he was invited to play a small recurring role on the show (1998–2000). For the next few years, Dillon acted in guest spots on such shows as That’s Life (2000–2002), Karen Sisco (2003), and 24 (2003).
After only moderate success in film and a modest showing on television, Dillon’s career appeared to be stagnating. In 2004, however, Dillon was cast in his breakthrough role, that of struggling actor Johnny “Drama” Chase on the HBO (Home Box Office) comedy-drama Entourage, which ran through 2011. Produced by actor Mark Wahlberg, the show revolved around the life of actors and the challenges of succeeding in the profession. Dillon played Drama as a sometimes humorous fool who was often pained and humiliated as he did his best to succeed as an actor.
Dillon’s performance as Drama was highly praised by critics for the entirety of the show’s eight-season run. For their performance over the course of the series, Dillon and the rest of the cast were nominated for a total of three Screen Actors Guild awards. Dillon himself was nominated for three supporting-actor Emmys and one Golden Globe, the latter of which ultimately went to costar Jeremy Piven.
The acclaim and attention that Dillon received from Entourage—which he credits with making him something more than just “Matt Dillon’s brother” in the minds of audiences—allowed some more film offers to come his way. In 2006 he played parts in the comedy The Foursome and Wolfgang Petersen’s disaster film Poseidon, a remake of 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure. By 2013, he had signed on to act in two more films: Compulsion and Twisted Metal. In 2015, he reprised the role of Johnny Drama for the film version of Entourage. That same year, he appeared in the film The Throwaways.
During the latter half of the 2010s, Dillon continued to take on film and television roles. These included voice work for the animated series TripTank (2015–16), a lead role as off-road truck racing team manager Rick Radden in the 2018 film Dirt, appearances as Jimmy O'Shea on the television series Bluebloods (2017–18), and the role of Doc in the comedy The Buddy Games (2019), directed and cowritten by Josh Duhamel. The 2020s brought several more film roles, including two films with Bruce Willis: A Day to Die and Wire Room; Frank and Penelope;Hot Seat with Mel Gibson and Shannen Doherty; and On the Line, again with Gibson, all released in 2022. He reprised the role of Doc in Buddy Games: Spring Awakening in 2023, also appearing in Mob Land with John Travolta that year. In 2024, he appeared in Reagan starring Dennis Quaid.
Impact
Kevin Dillon started out in the shadow of his brother Matt’s early success. After working through numerous independent films and bit parts on television, Dillon landed his big break as Johnny “Drama” Chase on Entourage, and reviewers often identified his performance as one of the best on the show. Dillon’s body of work has confirmed his status as a talented actor who fits right into tough, outspoken, confident roles.
Personal Life
Dillon married model and actor Jane Stuart in Las Vegas on April 22, 2006, and their daughter, Ava, was born that same year. Dillon’s older daughter, Amy Dillon, was born in 1991. Dillon and Stuart divorced in 2019.
Bibliography
Chiu, Alexis. “Kevin Dillon’s Entourage.” People. Time, 16 Feb. 2009. Web. 23 July 2013.
Dillon, Kevin. “Kevin Dillon Talks Entourage Ending, Keeping Johnny Drama Alive.” Interview by Nicki Gostin. Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 July 2013.
Holden, Stephen. “New Face; Baby-Faced Soldier of Platoon: Kevin Dillon.” New York Times 9 Jan. 1987 late final ed.: 10+. Print.
"Kevin Dillon (I)." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0001143/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Murphy, Eoin. “My Dream Job? I’m in It!” Daily Mail [London] 12 July 2013: 28+. Print.
Slonim, Jeffrey. “Matt and Kevin Dillon’s Dad: ‘They’re Great Guys.’” People. Time, 17 June 2007. Web. 22 July 2013.
Stack, Tim. “Drama King.” Entertainment Weekly 9 Sept. 2005: 16. Print.