Matthew Modine Wife: Who Is Caridad Rivera and How Long Have They Been Married?

Matthew Modine has spent more than four decades moving between intense dramas, Hollywood blockbusters and popular television shows. Many viewers know him as Private Joker from Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Martin Brenner from Stranger Things or Vannevar Bush from Oppenheimer. Away from those famous roles, however, his personal life has followed a surprisingly steady path.

Matthew Modine’s wife is Caridad Rivera, a makeup and wardrobe stylist with Puerto Rican roots. The couple married on October 31, 1980, long before Modine became a familiar Hollywood name. They have remained together ever since and share two children, Boman Modine and Ruby Modine, both of whom eventually found their own places in the entertainment industry.

Their marriage is especially interesting because it started before fame, awards and major movie sets became part of everyday life. Caridad met Matthew when he was still working in a New York restaurant and trying to build an acting career. Nearly 46 years later, that chance meeting has turned into one of the longest-running marriages connected to his Hollywood career.

Who Is Matthew Modine’s Wife?

Matthew Modine is married to Caridad Rivera, who is also known as Cari Modine.

Rivera comes from a Puerto Rican background and was raised in New York City. She has worked as a makeup artist and wardrobe stylist, meaning creativity was already part of her own professional life before her husband became successful in movies.

Unlike Matthew, Caridad has never seemed interested in building a highly public celebrity identity. She has appeared with him at industry events over the years, but much of her personal life remains private.

That difference seems to have worked for the couple. Matthew may spend months on film sets, promotional tours and television productions, while Caridad has generally remained away from the daily celebrity news cycle.

Despite that privacy, Modine has occasionally spoken about his wife in interviews and made it clear that their friendship is at the center of their marriage.

Matthew Met Caridad While Working as a Chef

Their love story did not begin at a Hollywood premiere or on a movie set.

Matthew was working as a chef in a New York City restaurant when Caridad came in as a customer. He was still a young man trying to figure out his future and had not yet become the actor audiences would later recognize.

According to Modine’s account of their meeting, Rivera ordered food from the restaurant, creating an opportunity for the two to meet. The encounter eventually developed into a relationship.

It is a pretty ordinary beginning for a marriage that would later exist alongside an extraordinary film career.

At that stage of his life, Matthew was studying acting and looking for opportunities. His breakthrough roles were still several years away. Full Metal Jacket would not arrive until 1987, and films such as Birdy and Vision Quest were also still in his future.

Caridad therefore knew Matthew before the premieres, awards and international recognition.

That history appears to be important to him.

In discussing successful relationships, Modine has emphasized the importance of having a partner who shares interests, challenges you and brings intelligence to the relationship. He has said that he felt fortunate to find those qualities in Caridad.

They Married in 1980

Matthew Modine and Caridad Rivera married on October 31, 1980.

The date means the couple will celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary on October 31, 2026. Their marriage has covered almost the entirety of Matthew’s professional acting career.

That timeline puts their relationship into perspective.

Matthew did not make his feature-film debut until the early 1980s. His career began gaining attention with projects such as Streamers, Birdy and Vision Quest before Stanley Kubrick cast him as Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket.

Caridad was already his wife through all of it.

She was there as his career moved from uncertainty to leading roles, then through quieter periods and eventually another wave of international recognition created by Stranger Things.

Hollywood careers can change quickly, but the Modines’ relationship has remained relatively consistent throughout those changes.

Matthew and Caridad Have Two Children

Matthew Modine and Caridad Rivera are parents to two children, a son named Boman and a daughter named Ruby.

What makes the family particularly interesting is that both children eventually entered entertainment, although they chose noticeably different sides of the business.

Boman prefers much of his work behind the camera. Ruby followed her father more directly into acting while also exploring music.

Their career choices make the Modine household a genuinely creative family rather than simply the family of a famous actor.

Who Is Boman Modine?

Boman Rivera Modine was born on November 8, 1985. He has developed a career as a director, writer and producer rather than concentrating on acting.

His work has included jobs across different areas of film production.

Boman has been associated with major movies such as The Dark Knight Rises and Whiplash while building experience behind the scenes. He later expanded into directing, producing and writing his own projects.

His career shows a different side of the family’s interest in filmmaking.

Matthew is the recognizable face appearing in front of audiences. Boman, meanwhile, has developed a career involving the complicated production process that allows films and television shows to actually reach the screen.

He is also a founder of the animation company Lost Legion Studios and has continued working on directing and producing projects.

So while Boman entered the same broad industry as his father, he has largely created his own professional identity.

Who Is Ruby Modine?

Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine was born on July 31, 1990. She is an actress and singer who has become the more publicly recognizable of Matthew and Caridad’s two children.

Television viewers may know Ruby best from Shameless, where she played Sierra Morton during the show’s seventh and eighth seasons.

Horror fans may recognize her even more quickly.

Ruby played Lori Spengler in the 2017 horror comedy Happy Death Day and returned for its 2019 sequel, Happy Death Day 2U. Those films helped introduce her to a wider audience beyond television.

Her more recent work has included the 2025 film Silent Night, Deadly Night and Dead Giveaway. She has also continued developing music alongside her acting career.

Ruby has spoken publicly about being proud of her Puerto Rican heritage through her mother. That connection is reflected in her full name, Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine, which keeps both sides of her family identity visible.

Caridad Helped Create a Creative Family

Caridad Rivera’s influence on the Modine family is easy to overlook because Matthew and Ruby are usually the people photographed on red carpets.

But Caridad has her own background in makeup and wardrobe work, two fields built around visual creativity.

That makes the careers chosen by their children seem less surprising.

Boman became interested in directing and production. Ruby chose acting and music. Matthew built a career as an actor, director and filmmaker.

In different ways, almost everyone in the immediate family has been connected with visual storytelling.

Caridad may be the least public member of the family, but she has been present throughout the development of all three careers.

Matthew Modine Still Credits His Marriage

Modine has spoken about his wife with noticeable affection even after decades together.

While discussing long relationships, he has emphasized friendship rather than offering some perfect formula for marriage. The idea of having someone who challenges him intellectually seems particularly important in the way he describes Caridad.

His long marriage even became relevant when he officiated the wedding of his Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi. In a 2025 interview, Modine reflected on the importance of bringing two families together and spoke from the perspective of someone who had experienced a lasting marriage himself.

That longevity is becoming an increasingly significant part of his personal story.

Where Are Matthew Modine and Caridad Rivera Now?

Matthew Modine and Caridad Rivera remain married.

After tying the knot in October 1980, they are approaching 46 years of marriage in 2026. Matthew continues to work steadily as an actor, while Caridad continues to maintain a considerably more private profile.

Their children are now adults with established creative careers of their own.

Boman has remained largely behind the scenes as a filmmaker, producer and director. Ruby has continued acting and making music, building a career that is connected to her father’s industry without simply copying his path.

For Matthew Modine, the family he created with Caridad has existed alongside nearly every important chapter of his professional life.

She knew him before Full Metal Jacket made him internationally recognizable, before Stranger Things introduced him to a younger generation and before major films such as The Dark Knight Rises and Oppenheimer added new chapters to his career.

That may be why their story stands out.

Matthew Modine has played countless characters during more than four decades on screen, but his life away from the cameras has remained surprisingly consistent. Caridad Rivera has been his wife since the very beginning of that journey, and together they built a family where creativity has clearly passed to the next generation.