Matsuda's best known film roles include the young and desirable samurai Sōzaburō Kanō in Taboo and the rock star Ren Honjo in Nana.

[3] At age 15, Matsuda was offered the role of the desirable young samurai Kanō Sōzaburō in Nagisa Ōshima's 1999 film Taboo.

The role helped boost him from an entirely unknown actor to a film star, earning him a Japanese Academy award "Newcomer of the Year", as well as "Blue Ribbon", "Kinema Junpo", and "Yokohama Film Festival" Awards for the "Best New Actor".

In February 2013, it was revealed that Matsuda would play the part of a Japanese gangster in the sequel to the 2012 Indonesian film The Raid, named Berandal.

[7] On 20 October 2021, Matsuda married Japanese-British model Mala Morgan, who is 14 years younger than him.