Ryan Phillippe

Matthew Ryan Phillippe (/ˈfɪlɪpi/; born September 10, 1974) is an American actor. He first appeared as Billy Douglas on the soap opera *One Life to Live* (1992–1993) and made his feature film debut in *Crimson Tide* (1995). He gained wider recognition in the late 1990s with starring roles in *I Know What You Did Last Summer* (1997), *54* (1998), *Playing by Heart* (1998), and *Cruel Intentions* (1999).

During the 2000s and beyond, he appeared in a variety of films, including *The Way of the Gun* (2000), *Antitrust* (2001), *Gosford Park* (2001), *Igby Goes Down* (2002), *The I Inside* (2003), *Crash* (2004), *Flags of Our Fathers* (2006), *Breach* (2007), *Stop-Loss* (2008), *MacGruber* (2010), *The Bang Bang Club* (2010), and *The Lincoln Lawyer* (2011).

Outside of film, Phillippe played the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger in the USA Network series *Shooter* (2016–2018) and reprised his role as Dixon Piper in the Peacock adaptation of *MacGruber* (2021).

In 1997, Phillippe met actress Reese Witherspoon at a party celebrating her 21st birthday. They married on June 5, 1999, with Witherspoon six months pregnant. Their daughter, Eva, was born in 1999, and their son, Deacon, was born in 2003. On October 30, 2006, the couple announced they were formally separating. Witherspoon filed for divorce on November 8, 2006, citing irreconcilable differences. Their marriage was officially dissolved on October 5, 2007, with final divorce arrangements settled on June 13, 2008, according to court documents. They shared joint custody of their children.

Phillippe began dating model and actress Alexis Knapp in May 2010; the relationship ended in September of the same year. After their breakup, Knapp discovered she was pregnant by Phillippe and gave birth to a daughter in 2011.