Known for Acting
Samantha Mathis (born May 12, 1970) is an American actress and trade union leader who serves as the Vice President of SAG-AFTRA. Mathis made her film debut in Pump Up the Volume (1990), and later co-starred or appeared in such films as FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Super Mario Bros. (1993), The Thing Called Love (1993), Little Women (1994), The American President (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), American Psycho (2000), and Atlas Shrugged: Part II (2012).
Born
May 12, 1970 (age 56)
Birthplace
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Filmography
56 films, 26 shows
showing 55 of 56 films


By Design
2026 · 1h 31m
country: United States
A woman swaps bodies with a chair, and everyone likes her better as a chair.


The Exorcism
2024 · 1h 36m
country: United States
A troubled actor begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film, leading his estranged daughter to wonder if he's slipping back into his past addictions or if there's something more sinister at play.


Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
2023 · 1h 27m
country: United States
In 1969, young Jud Crandall has dreams of leaving his hometown behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that forever binds him to Ludlow.


12 Desperate Hours
2023 · 1h 28m
country: United States
It centers on Val who finds herself and her young children held hostage by Denny when he forces his way into her house after committing murder that day.


Being Frank
2019 · 1h 51m
country: Unknown
A seventeen-year-old boy blackmails his father after discovering his secret second family


All That We Destroy
2019 · 1h 25m
country: United States
A geneticist who fears that her son may be becoming a serial killer creates a group of clones in an attempt to cure him of his psychopathic tendencies by allowing him to relive the murder of his first victim.


The Clovehitch Killer
2018 · 1h 49m
country: United States
A picture-perfect family is torn apart after Tyler finds a cache of disturbing images in his father's possession. He begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be responsible for the murder of 13 women ten years prior.


Boarding School
2018 · 1h 51m
country: United States
When troubled 12-year-old Jacob Felsen is sent away to boarding school, he enters every kid’s worst nightmare: a creepy old mansion, deserted except for six other teenage misfits and two menacing and mysterious teachers. As events become increasingly horrific, Jacob must conquer his fears to find the strength to survive.


Ray Meets Helen
2018 · 1h 53m
country: United States
Two lonely strangers who are struggling in life cross paths with each other under unusual circumstances and get a chance to start over.


American Pastoral
2016 · 1h 48m
country: Hong Kong
Set in postwar America, a man watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.


Affluenza
2014 · 1h 25m
country: United States
An aspiring young photographer finds himself caught up in a heady world of money, sex, and privilege when he moves to wealthy Long Island in the summer of 2008.


Atlas Shrugged: Part II
2012 · 1h 52m
country: United States
Railroad owner Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden search desperately for the inventor of a revolutionary motor as the U.S. government continues to spread its control over the national economy.


Camilla Dickinson
2012 · 1h 57m
country: United States
Fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson leads a sheltered life in New York City until her parents' marriage begins to fall apart.


Lebanon, Pa.
2011 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Will, a charming 35-year-old Philadelphia ad man, heads to Lebanon, Pa. to bury his recently deceased father. He forms an unexpected friendship with CJ, his bright, newly pregnant 17-year-old cousin. As Will becomes interested in CJ's married teacher and CJ confronts her conflicted father, both struggle with formidable decisions about the path their lives will take. Can we vault our differences and meet in the middle? This bittersweet comic drama tenderly explores the cultural divide in America through the lives of one extended family.


Good Day for It
2011 · 1h 29m
country: United States
A man forced to abandon his wife and daughter years earlier must risk his life to settle an old score and reunite his family.


Unanswered Prayers
2010 · 1h 28m
country: United States
After his football career, Ben Beck returned to his Virginia small town and joined the family building firm. His family happiness with wife Lorrie and adolescent son Jessie is suddenly tested by the return of Ben's first high-school love, Ava Andersson, who visits from Chicago, after a failed marriage, to bury her ma. Ava seduces Ben into reliving their courtship, which she traumatically broke off without a goodbye. Jesse reacts furiously, even backseats his own football scholarship bid, rather pa's projected ambition, in favor of a writing summer course


Buried
2010 · 1h 35m
country: Spain
As an American civilian truck driver working in Iraq, Paul Conroy's convoy is attacked by a group of Iraqi insurgents. Some time later, Paul awakes in a coffin with only a lighter, a cell phone, and his ever-growing anxiety. Faced with a dwindling oxygen supply and a dying battery, he must fight panic, despair, and delirium as he races against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap.


Order of Chaos
2010 · 1h 30m
country: United States
Almost rich, almost thirty, he never lies or cheats, even when his beautiful fiancé orders him around and his ball-busting boss uses threats as motivation. John never makes a sound, eager to do right. Rick Carlson is not. A smooth talking and coercive, Rick turns John's life upside down when he not only moves into his building, but starts working at his competitive law firm.


The New Daughter
2009 · 1h 48m
country: United States
John James is a writer; his wife has left him. He moves with his two middle-school children to an isolated house off a dirt road in South Carolina. The property has an Indian burial mound, which fascinates his daughter, Louisa, who's entering puberty.


Local Color
2008 · 1h 47m
country: United States
A successful artist looks back with loving memories on the summer of his defining year, 1974. A talented but troubled 18-year-old aspiring artist befriends a brilliant elderly alcoholic painter who has turned his back on not only art but life. The two form what appears to be at first a tenuous relationship. The kid wants to learn all the secrets the master has locked away inside his head and heart. Time has not been kind to the old master. His life appears pointless to him until the kid rekindles his interest in his work and ultimately gives him the will to live. Together, they give one another a priceless gift. The kid learns to see the world through the master's eyes. And the master learns to see life through the eyes of innocence again. This story is based on a real life experience.


Mitch Albom's For One More Day
2007 · 1h 32m
country: United States
While back in his hometown, a suicidal former baseball player encounters the spirit of his deceased mother, who takes him on a sentimental tour meant to restore his love of life.


A Stranger's Heart
2007 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Man and woman (Peter Dobson and Samantha Mathis) fall in love in a heart transplant facility. They are both attracted to a little girl (Mary Matilyn Mouser) who turns out to be the orphan of their heart donors...


Absolution
2006 · 1h 30m
country: Canada
For 10 years, a journalist has avoided visiting her small hometown. When news spreads about a comatose man healing people from his home, she is sent to investigate.


Believe in Me
2006 · 2h 11m
country: United States
In a conservative small town, a young man's wish to coach high school basketball are tweaked by a school board decision that makes him the new coach of the girls' team.


Touched
2005 · 1h 30m
country: Unknown
A devoted nurse falls in love with a formerly comatose patient who has lost his sense of touch.


Kids in America
2005 · 1h 31m
country: United States
Inspired by real events, this ribald comedy pits an unlikely gang of students against their principal after she bars safe-sex activities on campus. Protesting Principal Weller's muzzling of free speech, the teens stage a bold and hilarious rebellion.


Fathers and Sons
2005 · 1h 41m
country: United States
Intertwined tales of three families who grow up on the same street, focusing on the relationship of fathers and sons. The first section features Anthony and Jenny and traces the father-son bond that develops between Anthony and his newborn son over 30 years. The second story centers on the affairs of an airline pilot who shares a house but not a life with his wife. He crosses paths with an unusual woman and spends an extraordinary night with his son. The final chapter follows the homecoming of Elliot to his estranged family. As his father dies, Elliot meets and falls in love with a woman who sees past his tough-guy exterior.


The Punisher
2004 · 2h 4m
country: Germany
When undercover FBI agent Frank Castle's wife and son are slaughtered, he becomes 'the Punisher' -- a ruthless vigilante willing to go to any length to avenge his family.


Searching for Debra Winger
2002 · 1h 39m
country: United States
Rosanna Arquette talks to various actresses about the pressures they face as women working in the entertainment industry.


Collected Stories
2002 · 1h 53m
country: Unknown
Ruth Steiner is a teacher and respected short story writer. Her student and protégée is Lisa Morrison. Over the course of six years, Lisa journeys from insecure student to successful writer. After publishing a well-received collection of short stories, Lisa writes a novel based on Ruth's affair with the poet Delmore Schwartz. The women deal with the moral dilemma of whether a person's life events are suitable for another to use in their own creative process.


The Simian Line
2001 · 1h 46m
country: United States
The Simian Line is an American improvisational film, released in 2001. When Katharine throws a party on Halloween, a psychic called Arnita predicts that one of the three couples present at the party will break up by the end of the year. The guests don't take her seriously. Arnita doesn't tell them that she can see a fourth couple at the party, the long dead Mae and Edward. As days go by, Katharine grows increasingly jealous of her lover Rick, and his flirting with her neighbor Sandra. Sandra is married to Paul (Jamey Sheridan). Marta and Billy are rock musicians who live in the same building as Katharine.


Attraction
2001 · 1h 35m
country: United States
A writer/radio advice show host fails to heed his own advice as he stalks his ex-girlfriend and then becomes involved with an actress friend of hers.


Mermaid
2000 · 1h 34m
country: United States
Four year old Desi learns to accept the death of her father by sending him a letter on a balloon to which she receives a reply. Based on a true story.


American Psycho
2000 · 1h 42m
country: Canada
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.


Freak City
1999 · 1h 44m
country: United States
After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a rebellious young woman is disease-stricken. Upon being admitted to a nursing home, she finds hope in the most unlikely of places...


Some Guys
1998 · 24m
country: United States
Three lifelong buddies (David Alan Basche, Rod Biermann, and John DiMaggio) navigate the hilarious, often turbulent waters of modern dating, career setbacks, and the unpredictable women in their lives (Samantha Mathis, Julie Bowen, and Lori Petty) who always seem to have the upper hand. Unaired pilot produced by Kitten with a Whip through Touchstone Television for the Fox Network during the 1998 pilot season.


Waiting for Woody Allen
1998
country: United States
An unlucky actor named Josh Silver regains hope when his agent gets him an audition with his idol Woody Allen.


Sweet Jane
1998 · 1h 23m
country: United States
Jane, an HIV-positive heroin addict, meets Tony, a young AIDS victim with no family, and the two form a bond.


Museum of Love
1996 · 32m
country: United States
Dumped by his girlfriend, a young unemployed actor decides to transform his house into a "museum" of their relationship.


Broken Arrow
1996 · 1h 48m
country: United States
When rogue stealth-fighter pilot Vic Deakins deliberately drops off the radar while on maneuvers, the Air Force ends up with two stolen nuclear warheads -- and Deakins's co-pilot, Riley Hale, is the military's only hope for getting them back. Traversing the deserted canyons of Utah, Hale teams with park ranger Terry Carmichael to put Deakins back in his box.


The American President
1995 · 1h 53m
country: United States
Widowed U.S. president Andrew Shepherd, one of the world's most powerful men, can have anything he wants -- and what he covets most is Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. But Shepherd's attempts at courting her spark wild rumors and decimate his approval ratings.


How to Make an American Quilt
1995 · 1h 56m
country: United States
Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy, and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary, in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.


Jack & Sarah
1995 · 1h 50m
country: France
Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. When he comes around he discovers he is the proud father of a baby girl, but deficient in the spouse department to the tune of 1.


Little Women
1994 · 1h 55m
country: United States
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.


The Thing Called Love
1993 · 1h 56m
country: United States
A group of newcomers to the country music business seek love and stardom.


The Music of Chance
1993 · 1h 38m
country: United States
Two men face the consequences of gambling after playing with men beyond their league.


Super Mario Bros.
1993 · 1h 45m
country: United Kingdom
Mario and Luigi, plumbers from Brooklyn, find themselves in an alternate universe where evolved dinosaurs live in hi-tech squalor. They're the only hope to save our universe from invasion by the dino dictator, Koopa.


FernGully: The Last Rainforest
1992 · 1h 16m
country: Australia
When a sprite named Crysta shrinks a human boy, Zak, down to her size, he vows to help the magical fairy folk stop a greedy logging company from destroying their home: the pristine rainforest known as FernGully. Zak and his new friends fight to defend FernGully from lumberjacks — and the vengeful spirit they accidentally unleash after chopping down a magic tree.


This Is My Life
1992 · 1h 35m
country: United States
Single mom Dottie Ingels sells cosmetics in a department store while dreaming of becoming a comedian. After she inherits some money, she decides to move to New York with her children Erica and Opal in order to begin a stand-up career in small bars. Dottie soon rises to stardom, but while she travels all over the USA, her daughters stay home lonely.


To My Daughter
1990 · 1h 35m
country: United States
A mother is haunted by the death of one of her children which has an effect on the surviving siblings.


83 Hours 'Til Dawn
1990 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A wealthy man's daughter is kidnapped and placed in a box with air for only 83 hours.


Extreme Close-Up
1990 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Innovative drama mixing film and video, with a teenager obsessed with watching his late mother, killed in an auto accident, on tapes he recorded of their daily lives. The mother is seen in extreme close-up only on tape.


Pump Up the Volume
1990 · 1h 42m
country: Canada
Mark Hunter, a lonely high school student, uses his shortwave radio to moonlight as the popular pirate DJ "Hard Harry." When his show gets blamed for a teen committing suicide, the students clash with high school faculty and the authorities.


Cold Sassy Tree
1989 · 1h 35m
country: United States
In the early 20th century, an independent lady from up North causes a scandal when she decides to wed an older local general-store owner just three weeks after he's been widowed.


Forbidden Sun
1988 · 1h 28m
country: United Kingdom
Olympic gymnastics coach Francine Lake and her twelve gorgeous students train on the Island of Crete. The rigors of training preclude most sexual activity with the locals, thus the girls spend their evenings in quiet frustration.