Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen was born on 16 October 1988 in Amsterdam, the son of movie director Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen.

His younger sister, Roeltje, who also became an actor, was born four years later.

[citation needed] His big break was in 1999, with the role of Erik in the VPRO television series De Daltons.

He later played small roles in several films directed by his father, including Cloaca (2003) and Leef!

[1] He took acting lessons from Carla van Driel and Tom de Ket in 2006.