Matthew Barry

Grew up smack in the middle of New York City, which probably explains a lot—Matthew Barry had Broadway in his blood thanks to his dad, P.J. Barry, who penned plays, and his mom, Dolores, who worked her magic as a social worker. The stage wasn’t some distant dream for Matthew; he basically lived there before he hit double digits, jumping into the limelight at 8 years old for Roundabout Theatre’s “A Piece of Fog.” Fast forward a few years—he’s 13 and cracking jokes in CBS’s “Ivan the Terrible,” then, boom, at 15, he’s acting across from Jill Clayburgh in Bertolucci’s “Luna.” Not exactly your average teenage resume. Eventually, LA called (as it does), and Matthew packed up for Hollywood. He did the whole film and TV circuit, but soon found his real groove behind the scenes. He started casting, working shoulder-to-shoulder with Victoria Thomas—a name that grabs attention in the industry—on projects like “Indecent Proposal,” “Crimson Tide,” “Con Air,” “Mars Attacks,” and a bunch more you’d recognize. Then he teamed up with his agent Nancy Green-Keyes, and together they pulled off casting for a wild list of hits: “Rush Hour,” “John Q,” “Shanghai Noon,” “Family Man,” “Rush Hour 2,” “How High,” “Freddy Vs Jason,” “The Notebook,” “Alpha Dog,” “The Other Woman”—the list just keeps going. Even with all that, he hasn’t hung up his hat as a casting director. On top of everything, actors are scrambling to get his advice as a coach. If you’re in the biz, you know his name. If you’re not, you’ve definitely seen his work.