Hunky Matt Keeslar was virtually unknown when director Peter Yates cast the Juilliard student as Danny, Albert Finney's confused son, in the 1995 feature "The Run of the Country". The novice actor had to learn an Irish brogue practically overnight to play a young man whose combative relationship with his father and the recent death of his mother lead him to run off into the Irish countryside, where he meets and impregnates a young lass only to have the experience trigger a reconciliation with his father. Prior to that, he had played a soldier in "Renaissance Man", an NBC Page in "Quiz Show"
Performed in high school production of "Arsenic and Old Lace"
Signed by an agent after appearing in a Juilliard production of John Guare's "Moon Over Miami"
1993
Hired for first film role, a bit part as an NBC page, in Robert Redford's "Quiz Show"
1994
First released film, "Renaissance Man"; credited as Matthew Keeslar; although filmed after "Quiz Show", "Renaissance Man" was released theatrically first
1995
Made TV debut in small role of The Collector opposite Jessica Lange in the CBS remake of "A Streetcar Named Desire"
