Matt Dillon is an A-lister for sure, but not exactly what you’d call a leading man. His name alone can’t open a film, but his presence can certainly add to the cache of a project. Dillon has been working steadily for 25 years now, and has emerged as one of the great character actors of our time, no doubt attributable to his varied role selection. He has proven himself adept at comedy as well as drama, and he even co-wrote and directed a film, the little-seen 2002 drama “City of Ghosts.”

Dillon finally earned his first Oscar nomination for “Crash” (which for the record was way overrated, though Dillon was good), but for our money, his early work is his most iconic, and the best work by any young actor during the early ’80s, rivaled only perhaps by Sean Penn (and later that decade by River Phoenix).

Dillon rose to fame by playing a series of badass teenagers, which likely wasn’t a stretch. He landed his first role in 1979’s “Over the Edge,” a cult classic about rebellious teens in a Colorado suburb, when he was spotted by the casting director while ditching school 0ne afternoon. He followed up his performance with a number of memorable roles, many of which are as vital today as they were at the time of their release: “Little Darlings,” “My Bodyguard,” “Tex,” “The Outsiders,” “The Flamingo Kid” and on and on. He wrapped up the ’80s with one of the best roles of his career, as a drug-addled drifter in Gus Van Sant’s “Drugstore Cowboy,” a role which earned him the Best Actor trophy in the Independent Spirit Awards.

Dillon continues to make interesting career choices today, showing up in films as varied as “Herbie: Fully Loaded” and “Factotum.” But it is his early work that we will always admire most. Was there ever a better run of performances by a teenager?

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