Born and raised in Long Island New York, Matthew James moved to Manhattan to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. After years of honing his craft in NYC he ventured out to Los Angeles. In Hollywood Matt landed the crucial role of Merl on the hit show Angel. After two seasons on Angel, he appeared on NYPD Blue. In 2001 he landed the key role of the Dude in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. After doing several Independent films Matthew started writing his own movies. His current project is an offbeat love story set in Los Angeles called Nipples and Palm Trees in which he wrote and stars in is now streaming on Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.