# Matt Ross (actor)
**Matt Ross** (Matthew Brandon Ross) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director, born in 1970 in [Greenwich, Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenwich-connecticut), best known for playing the narcissistic technology executive Gavin Belson on HBO's *[Silicon Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/silicon-valley-tv-series)* and the polygamist Alby Grant on HBO's *Big Love*, and for writing and directing the film *Captain Fantastic* (2016), which won the Best Director prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/captain-fantastic)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA; full name Matthew Brandon Ross[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) |
| Signature acting role | Gavin Belson, HBO's *Silicon Valley*, 2014–2019, 53 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) |
| Other major TV role | Alby Grant, HBO's *Big Love*, 2006–2011, 49 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) |
| Notable film roles | Loomis in *Face/Off* (1997), Luis Carruthers in *American Psycho* (2000), Glenn Odekirk in *The Aviator* (2004)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) |
| Directing debut | *28 Hotel Rooms* (2012), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival[3](https://bestofama.com/amas/4scfug) |
| Major award | Best Director, Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2016, for *Captain Fantastic*[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/captain-fantastic) |
| Recent directing work | All 8 episodes of *Gaslit* (2022); 4 episodes of Netflix's *Death by Lightning* (2025), also executive producer[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/9492/matt-ross) |
| Training | Graduate of the Juilliard School; also attended New York University[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/matt_ross_2) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) |
## Acting career
Ross trained at the [Juilliard School](https://www.edgepedia.org/juilliard-school) in New York, where he met his wife, the food writer Phyllis Grant, and appeared in his first film, *Desperation Rising* (1989), before graduating.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/matt_ross_2) His screen career as a character actor spans both film and television. In film he played Loomis in [John Woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-woo)'s *Face/Off* (1997), Dan in Whit Stillman's *The Last Days of Disco* (1998), Luis Carruthers in [Mary Harron](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-harron)'s *American Psycho* (2000), Glenn Odekirk in Martin Scorsese's *The Aviator* (2004), and Eddie Scott in George Clooney's *Good Night, and Good Luck* (2005).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/matt-ross-captain-fantastic) Directors he has worked for as an actor include Terry Gilliam, John Woo, Woody Allen, Whit Stillman, Mary Harron, Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, Wayne Wang, and Mike Judge.[3](https://bestofama.com/amas/4scfug)
**Television brought his best-known parts.** On *Big Love* (2006–2011) he played Albert "Alby" Grant, the son of the polygamist cult leader played by [Harry Dean Stanton](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-dean-stanton), a role the Boston Globe described as the creepy son in the HBO drama.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [7](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2016/07/07/mike-ross-actor-also-mike-ross-writer-and-director/dFiD7oQex5QBjDJXreqtDI/story.html) From 2014 to 2019 he appeared in 53 episodes of [Mike Judge](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-judge)'s HBO comedy *Silicon Valley* as Gavin Belson, the guru-worshiping chief executive of the technology company Hooli.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [8](https://time.com/4413624/viggo-mortensen-and-matt-ross-on-the-fantasy-of-perfect-fatherhood/) His other television credits include Dr. Charles Montgomery in *American Horror Story* (2011–2015), Jack Klein in *Magic City* (2012–2013), Titus Andover in *Revolution* (2013), and guest parts in series such as *Oz*, *Six Feet Under*, *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation*, and *Rose Red*, the [Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king) miniseries for which he gained 45 pounds for the role of Emery Waterman.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [9](https://silicon-valley.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Ross) • [10](https://www.metacritic.com/person/matt-ross/) He also played Johnny Cash in the 2013 TV movie *Ring of Fire*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671)
## Directing
Ross began directing while still acting, making the short film *The Language of Love* in 1997 and the short *Human Resources* in 2009.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/matt_ross_2) His first feature as writer-director, *28 Hotel Rooms* (2012), starring [Marin Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/marin-ireland) and [Chris Messina](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-messina), premiered at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival); he was already in his forties when he made it.[3](https://bestofama.com/amas/4scfug) • [6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/matt-ross-captain-fantastic)
**Captain Fantastic** (2016), his second feature, stars [Viggo Mortensen](https://www.edgepedia.org/viggo-mortensen) as Ben Cash, a father raising six children off the grid in the forests of the [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest) with an extreme home-schooling curriculum of survival skills, physical training, and the works of thinkers such as [Noam Chomsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/noam-chomsky). The film premiered at Sundance in January 2016, screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, and won Ross the section's Best Director prize.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/captain-fantastic) • [11](https://sightlines.media/film/334533/captain-fantastic-2016) Ross has said the story grew from having two children of his own and from his own nomadic childhood, spent largely in Oregon in commune-like living arrangements his mother, who started alternative living communities in the early 1980s, had joined; he has called the main character "my fantasy of myself."[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/captain-fantastic) • [8](https://time.com/4413624/viggo-mortensen-and-matt-ross-on-the-fantasy-of-perfect-fatherhood/) The production shot in 39 days, with the cast, including several child actors, gathering early for a wilderness boot camp.[8](https://time.com/4413624/viggo-mortensen-and-matt-ross-on-the-fantasy-of-perfect-fatherhood/) Critical reception was broadly favorable but divided, with praise centered on Mortensen and the children's ensemble and criticism focused on the film's treatment of its own social critique.[11](https://sightlines.media/film/334533/captain-fantastic-2016)
**Television directing** followed. Ross directed two episodes of *Silicon Valley* (2018–2019), then all eight episodes of the Starz miniseries *Gaslit* (2022), starring [Julia Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/julia-roberts), serving as its executive producer as well.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/9492/matt-ross) For the Netflix limited series *Death by Lightning* (2025), a four-part dramatization of the assassination of President James Garfield adapted by Mike Makowsky from Candice Millard's book *Destiny of the Republic*, Ross directed all four episodes and was an executive producer.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/9492/matt-ross) • [12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/death-by-lightning-netflix-presidential-assassination-show-is-eerily-timely/) Projects listed as in development or post-production include *Kockroach* and *City on Fire*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671)
## Working method
Ross has described a directing style that leaves room for exploration rather than demanding a fixed performance between action and cut. He clears the set and asks actors to find their way through a scene, and he would keep the camera running if he could; on *Captain Fantastic* he and cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine recalibrated continuously during shooting.[13](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2016/captain-fantastic-interview-with-matt-ross/) He has said that acting remains part of his working life because it pays the bills and comes faster than writing, but that directing is where his own stories live: "I am happy to be invited to other people's parties but it's not the same thing, they're not my stories."[14](https://www.motionpictures.org/2016/07/writer-director-matt-ross-captain-fantastic/)
## Personal life and name confusion
Ross is married to Phyllis Grant and they have two children; he has said that questions about what to pass on to his children were the starting point for *Captain Fantastic*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671) • [15](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/director-and-actor-matt-ross-interview-on-his-new-film-captain-fantastic-parenting-american-psycho-and-the-presidential-election-a7231586.html) He is a distinct person from several other entertainment figures with the same or a similar name, including Matthew M. Ross, the New York director of *Frank & Lola* (2016), and Mat Ross, an art-department professional credited on *I Saw the TV Glow* (2024).[16](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743676/) • [17](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14945998/)
## References
1. [Matt Ross (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743671)
2. [Captain Fantastic, Festival de Cannes film page](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/captain-fantastic)
3. [I am Matt Ross, writer/director of CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, Ask Me Anything, BestofAMA](https://bestofama.com/amas/4scfug)
4. [Matt Ross, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/9492/matt-ross)
5. [Matt Ross, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/matt_ross_2)
6. [Matt Ross, Off Screen, Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/matt-ross-captain-fantastic)
7. [Matt Ross, actor, is also Matt Ross writer and director, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2016/07/07/mike-ross-actor-also-mike-ross-writer-and-director/dFiD7oQex5QBjDJXreqtDI/story.html)
8. [Viggo Mortensen and Matt Ross on the Fantasy of Perfect Fatherhood, TIME](https://time.com/4413624/viggo-mortensen-and-matt-ross-on-the-fantasy-of-perfect-fatherhood/)
9. [Matt Ross, Silicon Valley Wiki (Fandom)](https://silicon-valley.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Ross)
10. [Matt Ross, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/matt-ross/)
11. [Captain Fantastic (2016), dir. Matt Ross, Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/334533/captain-fantastic-2016)
12. [Netflix's Presidential Assassination Drama 'Death by Lightning' Is Eerily Timely, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/death-by-lightning-netflix-presidential-assassination-show-is-eerily-timely/)
13. [Captain Fantastic, interview with Matt Ross - Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2016/captain-fantastic-interview-with-matt-ross/)
14. [Writer/Director Matt Ross on Captain Fantastic, The Credits (Motion Picture Association)](https://www.motionpictures.org/2016/07/writer-director-matt-ross-captain-fantastic/)
15. [Director and actor Matt Ross on his new film Captain Fantastic, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/director-and-actor-matt-ross-interview-on-his-new-film-captain-fantastic-parenting-american-psycho-and-the-presidential-election-a7231586.html)
16. [Matthew Ross, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743676/)
17. [Mat Ross, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14945998/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Ro to Sa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license