Born and raised in the coal mining country of Western Pennsylvania, Matthew cut his teeth training and performing, in the US and abroad, with the famed Guthrie Theater out of Minneapolis. Making his NY debut in 2009 as the title role in HENRY V,  the NY Times described him as  "a charismatic, skillful actor with a clarion baritone who gives the production a magnetic focus. Handsome in a Tom Cruise kind of way, the square-jawed and youthful Mr. Amendt is a distinctly cool King Henry."  He hasn't looked back since, with appearances in a number of film, television, and theatre productions, playing many of the great roles in the classical canon, and working with some incredible names in the industry, including:  Mark Rylance, Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance, Hunter Foster, Maggie Siff, Jonathan Cake, John Douglas Thompson, Chukwudi Iwuji, Stephen Spinella, Patrick Page, Harriet Harris, and many more. In 2014 Matthew won the prestigious Emery Battis Award for the role of Prince Hal opposite Stacy Keach in HENRY IV PARTS 1 AND 2, and in 2018 his work as HAMLET was lauded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  

Recently, he's pivoted to contemporary work, developing new plays at the La Jolla Playhouse, bringing DRACULA back to life in the title role Off-Broadway, starring in the acclaimed new play BORN WITH TEETH across the United States as Kit Marlowe, and pursuing Independent Film.