Matthew was born on August 19, 1969, in Massachusetts. He moved to Ontario, Canada with his mom after his parent's divorce, while his father stayed in the US, pursuing his acting career. Matthew went to a private high school, Buckley School. While growing up, acting was not on his mind - but tennis was. At fifteen, Matthew was ranked third in the junior doubles in Canada. He got his first taste in acting while playing Arriba Arriba Geneva in the classic, The Life and Death of Sneaky Fitch, in a performance class.

At that point he was hooked. In 1984, Matthew moved to Los Angeles where he lived with his father. Not long after the movie, Matthew got his break in a sitcom called "Charles in Charge." At only sixteen, Matthew was offered a small part in the movie, "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon."

After graduation, Matthew was offered a leading role on the television series "Boys Will Be Boys." He accepted and became regulars on TV series as well as guest starring on a lot of others.

Perry decided to expand his writing talents in 1993. He wrote his own pilot called "Maxwell's House." It was bought by Universal Studios. Shortly after selling it, he landed a role on a similar comedy called "Friends." He has now starred in many successful movies such as, "The Whole Nine Yards" and "Fools Rush In" - a small sample of the many films starring Matthew.

But not all of Perry's life is a happy story. On June 4, 1997 it was reported that he had checked into a a drug rehab center suffering from "chemical dependency on a prescription medication. On Feb. 27, 2001, Perry entered a rehabilitation clinic for treatment of an undisclosed condition. Matthew even needed to stop filming "Serving Sara" so he could get help.