What happened to Matt Dillon?

"I don't want to get stuck in the leading man kind of thing...I find it sort of restrictive. I'd just like to get really good, juicy character parts. The people you see on the street, the people you see in life... Slices of reality. I think that's what it's about," Matt Dillion told The New York Times in 1983.

What's striking about that declaration is that he made it when he was only 19. At the time, he was already a star and a prominent face of the "Brat Pack" alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, and Patrick Swayze.

Contrary to what you might think, Matt Dillon hasn't vanished from Hollywood. The truth is, he never left. He has remained Matt Dillon for over 40 years, but on his own terms — away from the spotlight, and doing what he wants, when he wants.

Case in point, Matt Dillon is not on social media. "It's one of the things I'd like to have, but being famous, I feel I shouldn't. I have my email, which is pretty easy to get, and sometimes people send me stuff," he said in an interview with Spanish magazine Icon.

Another factor that defines Dillon is New York, the city of his birth and likely the city where he will die. Over his life, he has forcefully rejected Los Angeles and Hollywood. He is content with the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, his home on the Upper East Side, and his beloved Mets.

Indeed, Dillon's story is intertwined with the Big Apple. He grew up there with his five siblings in a family environment that fostered and amplified the creativity and personality of each Dillon kid.

It was in New York that a talent scout was struck by his charisma and recommended him for a film. He was 15 years old, and it was 1979 when he ended up being cast in 'Over the Edge,' a story about a teenage band with too many vices. Fun fact: This film partly inspired the music video for the Nirvana anthem 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.'

Just a year later, at 16, he had the luxury of turning down the lead role in 'The Blue Lagoon' (1980) alongside Brooke Shields. The reason? Too much nudity. Dillon wanted to be an actor, but on his terms, and he made it clear from the very start.

He enrolled in the Actors Studio, though soon after, Francis Ford Coppola came calling for him to star in 'The Outsiders,' the 1983 Brat Pack melodrama.

Tom Cruise, Ralph Maccio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Emilio Estevez emerged alongside Dillon as the new generation of Hollywood talent. But Dillion found his role as a silent leader of the gang, drawing on his natural ease and charisma.

Time has put each member of the Brat Pack in their respective places. But Dillon was the face of this scrappy generation and it was he who was compared to Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Paul Newman. Meanwhile, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Since then, Matt Dillon hasn't stopped working. He's continued at his own steady pace, around one or two projects per year. Today, he can boast of having collaborated with talents like Gene Hackman, Diane Lane, Gus Van Sant, and Garry Marshall, among many others.

Interestingly, his peak of fame post-Brat Pack came indirectly through his least "Matt Dillon" movie... And thanks to a kiss that he didn't even participate in as part of the 1998 film 'Wild Things.'

That infamous kiss was between Denise Richards and Neve Campbell, two '90s icons. It's Hollywood history, and Matt Dillon, caught on it's fringe, was subject to the intense attention that he so often avoided.

Adding to the controversial kiss, the same year, 1998, he starred in 'There's Something About Mary.' This raunchy comedy by the Farrelly Brothers was a massive hit and romantically linked him to his co-star Cameron Diaz.

Though their relationship didn't last long, Dillon was clear that his fling with Diaz would be the last time he exposed his personal life to the public. No more red carpets as couples, walks around New York or comments on the matter. He had crossed one of his red lines and it wasn't going to happen again. And it hasn't.

Throughout the 21st century, except for the highly promoted series 'Wayward Pines,' Matt Dillon's roles, as well as his personal life, have remained mostly under the radar. Here, he's pictured with M. Night Shyamalan, the creator of the sci-fi series.

Another notable exception was 'The Great Fellove' (2020), a documentary in which he paid tribute to Francisco Fellove Valdés, the artist who made him fall in love with Afro-Cuban music in the early '90s.

But of course, we have a pending question: What happened to Matt Dillon? Basically, not too much. In his case, no news has been good news and it seems like the actor is more himself than ever.

If you want to know how he's doing, you can find him in New York jazz clubs, at record fairs (he owns one of the world's largest vinyl collections), or dining in Little Italy. He's also fond of running in Central Park.

Work-wise, Matt Dillon adheres to his efficiency mantra and commits to pretty much just one project per year: 'American Dreamer' (2022), 'Land of Dreams' (2021), 'Capone' (2020), and 'Proxima' (2019) affirm this trend.

With an estimated net worth of $40 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, Dillon has more than ever and uses this financial freedom to choose what he wants to do at any given moment.

What's happened to Dillon? Well, he's become the man he wanted to be... even having succeeded in Hollywood.