Ignacyo Mateusz Matynia is a Polish born, American raised actor known for his performance in the feature film '' Break Every Chain'' as Police Officer Jonathan Hickory. He's starred in multiple made for TV films such as the Lifetime original film ''My Nightmare Landlord'' (2020), ''The Man in the Guest House'' and ''Breaking Girl Code'' His notable television credits include guest starring spots on Law and Order: SVU, Vida, Marvel's Luke Cage,

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

and Dietland.

Early life

Matynia was born in Busko Zdroj, Poland and moved with his family to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, settling in

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. After graduating from

Xaverian High School Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school. History T ...

, he began his studies at the SUNY University of Albany with a desire to go to medical school. But it was there that he began his passion for acting, he dropped out of college to pursue this as a career, while working part-time as a DJ.

Career

In 2014, Matynia was discovered by Sedly Bloomfield of the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

, who became his mentor. His studies led him to star in over 40 short films, some of which earned him numerous awards and nominations at film festivals, including the

Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema The Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (IIFC) is an independent film festival held since 2009 in Idyllwild, California. The festival is run by its founder, director Stephen Savage. The tenth annual IIFC was held March 5 through 10, 2019 ...

. That same year, he made his feature film acting debut in ''The Grievance Group''. He then went on to appear in guest roles on television shows including

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's ''

'',

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

' ''

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...

'',

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

' '' Vida'' and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. In 2018 and 2019, after moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, he was cast in the feature films '' Like Dogs'' and ''One and the Same'', the latter of which was released by

Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an American film distribution company owned by Shout! Studios. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles in 2006, and moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Cleveland in 2019. It focuses on the distribu ...

on Blu-ray and on demand on March 23, 2021. In 2020, Matynia was cast in '' The Institute'' and '' Break Every Chain'', two of the first films that were able to proceed with production, with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

safety measures in place. The latter film, in which he plays police officer Jonathan Hickory, who wrote the autobiographical novel the film is based on, held its world premiere on February 20, 2021, in

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

Personal life

Matynia is Catholic.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Ignacyo's Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matynia, Ignacyo 1992 births Living people Polish male film actors American male film actors American male television actors 21st-century American male actors University at Albany, SUNY alumni Xaverian High School alumni People from Busko County Polish emigrants to the United States