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Matt DamonandBen Affleckhave one of the most long-lasting and famous friendships in Hollywood history.
The Boston natives have been best friends since Affleck was in his single digits, and their bond has led them to collaborate onscreen numerous times, including their Oscar-winning debutGood Will Huntingand most recently withThe Last Dueland theNike dramaAir.
“Ben has always had an incredible charisma. People are just getting introduced to it through film,” DamontoldThe Los Angeles Timesin 1999. “It’s hard to think of your best friend as a movie star, but the fact that he is [stems from] the extent to which parts of the real him come through. He is somebody that everybody wants to be around.”
After the success of the film, which won each of them their first Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, the duo considered going their separate ways professionally, but it didn’t quite shake out that way.
“For a while, we thought maybe we should chill and just do other stuff, and not be Matt and Ben, Matt and Ben,” Affleckrecalled toBoston Magazine. “We have our company together, we’re developing together. And Matt lives down the street from me like he used to. His kids are living with him, the way we used to live with our folks. The only difference is that we have pools.”
From their Boston roots to their Hollywood careers, here’s a look back at Matt Damon andBen Affleck’s friendship through the years.
1980: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck meet
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Affleck and Damon met at the respective ages of 8 and 10 years old when they lived two blocks away from one another in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They became fast friends when they discovered that they each loved baseball and acting.
Damonrecalled in a November 2019 interview onConanthat his friendship with Affleck was solidified after Affleck, at the very last minute, defended Damon in a fight with a bigger kid in school. “I remember that was like a big moment,” Damon said at the time. “He will put himself in a really bad spot for me. This is a good friend.”
1986: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck begin auditioning together
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Affleck and Damon began working together as actors before they could legally vote. Their mutual support was priceless, Affleckrecalled in an interview withParade, in part because Damon made him feel less alone.
TheGone Girlactor recalled that when he was 14 and Damon was 16, they’d travel to New York City to audition together.
“We’d take the train. Or sometimes we’d even take the airplane, back when there was the Eastern Shuttle or People’s Express. It cost like $20 to fly and you could smoke on the plane,” Affleck said. “We were smoking like idiots because we thought we were really supposed to be grown-ups. It was pitiful.”
April 1989: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck become big-screen costars for the first time
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Damon and Affleck were uncredited extras together in theKevin CostnerhitField of Dreams.
“I bet there were probably 3,000 extras in a big crowd scene when Kevin Costner andJames Earl Jonesare at the baseball game,” Damonsaid onThe Dan Patrick Showin July 2021. “Costner came out and hung out with the extras, and Ben and I went and struck up a conversation with him. And he probably gave us five minutes. He was incredibly generous with his time.”
1990: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck go to separate colleges
After being inseparable through grammar and high school, Damon enrolled in Harvard University, though he and Affleck remained close. Two years later, Affleck attended the University of Vermont. Affleck explained that he chose the school because he wanted to be with his high school girlfriend.
1992: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck costar in a movie for the first time
Damon and Affleck costarred alongsideBrendan FraserinSchool Tiesin 1992. In the film, Affleck plays Chesty Smith and Damon stars as Charlie Dillon. Both characters are anti-semitic bullies who harass Fraser’s Jewish character David Greene, though Dillon is significantly worse — with a much larger role for Damon.
Over the next several years, both Damon and Affleck would see varying degrees of success in film; according toThe Los Angeles Times, Affleck crashed on Damon’s couch when times got lean.
1994: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck co-writeGood Will Hunting
Damon began working on his script forGood Will Huntingfor a playwrighting class during his fifth year at Harvard. On a trip out to Los Angeles to shootGeronimo: An American Legend, he brought the script with him and showed it to Affleck.
“Matt said, ‘Look, will you help me write this? I’m not sure what it is or where to go.’ So we started writing it sort of back and forth,” Affleck recalled toBoston Magazineof their early work on the project. Their first drafts ended up being far different from the final film.
“We came up with this idea of the brilliant kid and his townie friends, where he was special and the government wanted to get their mitts on him. And it had a veryBeverly Hills Cop,Midnight Runsensibility, where the kids from Boston were giving the NSA the slip all the time,” theBatmanactor explained.
“We would improvise and drink like six or twelve beers or whatever and record it with a tape recorder. At the time we imagined the professor and the shrink would beMorgan Freemanand[Robert] De Niro, so we’d do our imitations of Freeman and De Niro. It was kind of hopelessly naive and probably really embarrassing in that respect.”
Affleck drew some of his inspiration for the title character from his own father, who at one point was a janitor at Harvard University.
In 1995, Affleck and Damon’s script sold to Miramax for $1 million, but didn’t go into production for almost another full year, during which the duo temporarily moved back to Boston.
September 27, 1996: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck costar inGlory Daze
Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic
Affleck stars as a disaffected soon-to-be college graduate named Jack in the indie comedyGlory Daze, with Damon in a non-speaking role as one of Jack’s former roommates. Though it was considered a critical bomb, it had a slew of A-listers in the supporting cast, includingMatthew McConaughey,Brendan Fraser,Alyssa Milano,Sam RockwellandLeah Remini.
April 1997: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’sGood Will Huntingbegins production
April 1997 was a busy month for the duo:Chasing Amy, in which Affleck starred and Damon had a supporting role, debuted, and they began filmingGood Will Hunting,wrapping production in a mere nine weeks from the start date. The film hit theaters in a limited release that December and in wide release in January 1998.
Affleck joked of the experience toBostonMagazine, “It was just kinda like, ‘Is it over?’ It’s just hard to almost internalize the fact that, okay, we’re going to wait four years, and it’s gonna be over in five seconds. Kind of like losing my virginity.”
Later, the duo would reveal that they eachcried on the set while filming. “Just, I guess, a mixture of joy and disbelief. And relief. And gratitude,” DamontoldGQin September 2021. “That would probably be it. That was a really nice moment. I’m not ashamed to say it.”
January 18, 1998: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck win big at the Golden Globes
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Damon and Affleck’s first taste at awards show glory came at the 1998Golden Globes, where they took home awards for best screenplay.
March 23, 1998: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck win their first Oscars
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Affleck and Damon delivered one of the most charming andmemorable Oscars speechesof all time when they took the trophy for Best Original Screenplay.
“Ha! I just said to Matt that losing would suck and winning would be really scary, and it’s really, really scary,” Affleck said onstage.
“We were younger than we felt,” Damon later recalled of the big moment toBoston Magazine. “I was 22 and Ben was 20 when we first started writing it. And then it came out when I was 27 and Ben was 25. I mean, Ben’s still the youngest writer to ever win an Oscar for screenwriting.”
November 1999: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck share the screen again inDogma
Teaming up with palKevin Smith, who they credited with helpingGood Will Huntingget made, Damon and Affleck starred as fallen angels inDogma.
December 2, 2001: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck team up forProject Greenlight
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Damon and Affleck paired up for the documentary seriesProject Greenlightfor HBO. The show followed first-time filmmakers in a contest to get their debut movies made. The series ran from December 2001 through 2005 and was revived in 2015 for a fourth season.
May 2002: Matt Damon silently joins Ben Affleck onscreen again
Affleck had a supporting role in the 2002 romantic comedyThe Third Wheel, which starredLuke Wilson,Denise Richardsand Jay Lacopo. Damon appeared in a non-speaking role.
March 2004: Matt Damon cameos in Bennifer’s non-Giglimovie
Affleck costarred alongside his then-fiancéeJennifer Lopezin 2004’sJersey Girl, and Damon once again popped up in his friend’s film for a cameo. Damon was credited as “PR Exec #2” and appeared in one scene in which his andJason Lee’s characters interview Affleck’s for a public relations job.
March 28, 2010: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner honor Matt Damon
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Damon was honored at the 2010 American Cinematheque Awards, and Affleck’s then-wifeJennifer Garnertook the stage to introduce him and poke fun at the pair’s highly publicized and longtime friendship.
“Ben is half of one of the greatest love stories ever told. Not with me,” theYes Daystar joked. “The actual prototype for the great Hollywood Bromance … Here’s proof that love is alive and well in Hollywood. At least for my darling husband and my husband’s darling husband.”
Affleck then came on to honor his bestie, joking, “Matt always said to me, ‘Ben, there are two things that are more important to me than anything else in this world.’ Folks: ‘Fame, money.’ You did it, Matty! You got there!”
November 8, 2014: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reflect on their 20s
Chatting with PEOPLE at a celebration ofProject Greenlight’s latest victor, Affleck and Damon looked back at their early days of struggling financially and taking risks before achieving mainstream success in Hollywood.
“Those times were fun! We had a great time! We were young, we didn’t have the kinds of fears that you have when you get into your forties if you haven’t gotten to where you want to go,” Affleck said. “We were in our twenties and we just had a blast!”
Damon quipped, “We’ve known each other for more than 30 years, and the fact that we have a company together is kind of a part of the whole thing.” He added with a laugh, “We used to have business lunches together in high school when we had no business to talk about.”
July 6, 2015: Sources say Matt Damon is “invaluable” to Ben Affleck following his divorce from Jennifer Garner
Matt Damon (right) and Ben Affleck (left).Angela Weiss/Getty
While Affleck went through apainful and public divorcefrom Garner in 2015, insiders say Damon was integral to his healing process.
“In the same way Jen is turning to her friends, for a long time,Ben has reached out to Matt, who is a true touch point for him,” a source close to Garner and Affleck told PEOPLE at the time. Noting that Damon was a “solid friend,” the source added, “They have a bond. Few people know Ben better than Matt, and that is really invaluable.”
June 6, 2016: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are named “Guys of the Decade”
Affleck joked onstage, “I think it goes without saying that this is an award Matt and I have been dreaming about since we were little boys. I didGigliand Matt did that Liberace movie and all of a sudden it all seemed out of reach. Then I did [Batman v Superman] and all of a sudden it was back in reach again.”
He added, “Now we’re the … coveted Dudes of the Decade … the Guys of the D—heads? What is it?”
Damon deadpanned in reply, “No, the D—heads of the Decade award.”
February 26, 2017: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reunite at the Oscars
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.Eddy Chen/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
19 years after their Oscar win forGood Will Hunting, Damon and Affleckhit the Academy Awards stage together again. They pair presented the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, the award they famously won in 1998, with hostJimmy Kimmeljokingly introducing them as “Ben Affleckand guest.”
July 2019: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck announce their teaming up forThe Last Duel
The pals revealed they were planning their first writing collaboration sinceGood Will HuntingforThe Last Duel, a historical action drama from director Ridley Scott. Damon and Affleck signed on to both co-write the script and costar in the film.
March 4, 2020: Ben Affleck jokes that he got Matt Damon’s career going as a child star
Affleckjoked onThe Jess Cagle Showthat his work as a child actorgave Damon the motivation to pursue actingfor himself.
TheWay Backstar explained that when he was 7 or 8 years old, he would filmThe Voyage of Mimi, which he described as “cheesy.”
“But I did like it, and it did two things. One it instilled in me a deep love and affection for this art and craft and line of work,” Affleck said. “And it made Matt Damon so incredibly jealous, it drove him into a career in cinema. So I really take credit for that.”
May 11, 2021: Matt Damon roots for a Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reunion
A true friend knows the power of discretion, and Damon showed he knew how to keep his lips zipped about Affleck’s love life. During aTODAYappearance, co-hostsHoda KotbandSavannah Guthrieasked Damon about the rumors of Affleckreuniting with former flame Lopez.
The Martianactor joked, “There’snot enough liquor in the worldfor you to get me to say something about that.” When pressed, he said it was a “fascinating story,” adding, “I hope it’s true. I love them both. I hope it’s true. That would be awesome.”
September 9, 2021: Ben Affleck says Matt Damon’s friendship keeps him sane
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In aGQprofile of Damon, Affleck credited his friendship with theDownsizingstar for keeping him grounded despite his megastardom.
“My own kind ofsanity and mental health really benefitedfrom having someone who I grew up with and knew as a child who was also going through something similar — this 20-year-plus journey of being in the public eye — who I could reflect on it with honestly, talk things over with, be myself with, who I knew why we were friends, why he was interested and loved me, why I loved him,” he explained.
Damon agreed, adding that discussing their friendship publicly wasn’t necessarily his favorite thing to do.
“I don’t want to be his friend in public, you know what I mean?” he said. “It’s way too important a friendship for that, and it goes so beyond this career or anything. You know, it’s a significant part of my life and not for public consumption in that way.”
July 26, 2021: Matt Damon says he texts Ben Affleck to fact-check stories about him
Talk about a sign of a true Hollywood bromance: Damon told PEOPLE at the premiere of his movieStillwaterthat he and Affleck text regularly, sometimes about reports about one another.
“We each got a whole mess of kids. We text pretty much about everything,” he said. “There’s so much in the press about him that normallyI’m just fact-checking things that I read. ‘Did this happen?’ He’s like, ‘No that didn’t happen.’ "
The same night, Damon said he washappy for Affleck and Lopez getting back together,tellingExtra, “He’s the best. He deserves every happiness in the world. I’m glad for both of them.”
August 13, 2021: Matt Damon says he’s “pulling” for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
During a rapid-fire interview onThe Carlos Watson Showin August 2021, the host asked Damon if he thought Affleck and Lopez would “make it.”
“Oh man,no one’s pulling harder than I am,” he said. “They’re both great. I just want for their happiness. They seem pretty happy right now.”
He got his way: Damonattended the couple’s wedding weekend in Georgiaa year later.
October 13, 2021: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck explain how their screenwriting process changed sinceGood Will Hunting
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After a series of COVID-19 delays,The Last Duelfinally hit theaters in October 2021.
While promoting the film, Damon and Affleck said that co-writingGood Will Huntingscared them away from working together for years— but that they learned a lot in the 25 years since.
“Good Will Huntingtook us so long. We were like unemployed, broke guys. It took us forever to write that screenplay,” Damonrecalled onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I think we wrote thousands and thousands of pages. We didn’t really know what we were doing and I think that kind of put us off writing again because we never thought we’d have the time.”
Damon and Affleck creditedThe Last Duelco-writer Nicole Holofcener with their script’s success, with Damon calling working the “great writer” a “really good decision.”
January 13, 2022: Ben Affleck credits Matt Damon with saving his career
Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
AfterBatman V SupermanandJustice Leagueeach disappointed at the box office, Affleckcredited Damon for helping him escape a career rut.
Speaking withEntertainment Weekly, Affleck said that Damon was a “principal influence” on his decision to work solely on movies and projects he loves, noting, “I want to do the things that would bring me joy.”
April 20, 2022: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck take on Michael Jordan’s Nike deal
PEOPLE confirmed in April 2022 that Damon and Affleck wereteaming up to write and starin a film about NBA legendMichael Jordan’s historic deal with Nike. Affleck signed on to direct and play Nike co-founder Phil Knight, while Damon was set to star as former Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro, who pushed the brand to make the deal with the sports icon when he was still a rookie.
Just two months later, Affleck and Damon werespotted on the set of the film, which would later be titledAir. The first trailer for the movie, which costarsEGOT winnerViola Davisand her real-life husbandJulius Tennonas Jordan’s parents, dropped in February 2023.
November 21, 2022: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck launch a production company together
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Damon and Affleck teamed up professionally yet again,launching the Artists Equity with RedBird Capital Partners production company. Affleck serves as CEO, while Damon is chief creative officer.
AfflecktoldThe New York Times, “There was part of me, I have to admit, that was like, ‘Come on, these studio guys sit behind desks and make phone calls. The artists are the ones who have to go off and actually make the movie and do all the work.’ I have already been humbled. But my only regret is that I didn’t have the sense of self to try this earlier,” he continued. “Now I feel very ready to do it. I’m right at that period of life where you have enough experience and confidence and self-assuredness.”
March 23, 2023: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reveal they once shared a bank account
While promotingAir, Damon and Affleck shared a number of tidbits about their friendship as rising actors in the industry. During an appearance onThe Bill Simmons Podcast, the Oscar winners shared that they once had a single bank account when they were just starting out.
“It was unusual, butwe needed the money for auditions,” Damon, recalled, saying it was “a weird thing in retrospect.”
They even developed a set of rules for spending their funds outside of work-related reasons.
“You were allowed to take out $10 and get quarters and go to [the arcade] and play video games,” Damon said. “Eventually we were allowed to try to buy beer, which never f—ing worked.”
“I think that attitude really helped us in ways we couldn’t anticipate,” Affleck added. “Matt and I always felt like we’re in it together. Like, ‘Hey, I want to get the part, but I wantyouto get the part [too].”
March 27, 2023: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attend theAirpremiere in L.A.
JC Olivera/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty
Ahead of the release of their Nike drama on April 5, Damon and Affleck stepped out at theAirpremiere in L.A.
Damonbrought along his wife Lucianaand daughters Isabella, Gia and Stella for the big event, whileAffleck’s wife Lopez accompanied himto the premiere.
April 5, 2023: Matt Damon says navigating fame would have been “unimaginably harder” without Ben Affleck
Damon told PEOPLE that the “shock of becoming famous” caused him to lean on Affleck early on in their careers.
“It’s been really helpful to check in with Ben throughout this whole surreal process over the last 25 years,” he said, noting that life would have been"unimaginably harder” without their friendship.
Affleck, who got noticeably choked up while talking about Damon, added: “Having Matt has meant the world. It’s not just Matt. It’s Matt’s dad who I adore and love enormously. And his mom and stepdad, his brother. His kids, who just came to the [Air] premiere and made me want to burst into tears because they’re so beautiful and grown up and amazing. You get to be part of somebody’s whole life in that way. It’s been an enormous gift.”
April 14, 2023: Ben Affleck says he “would not suggest” living with Matt Damon
Affleck, his brotherCasey Affleckand Damon lived together in Los Angeles when they were up-and-coming actors — but it wasn’t always smooth sailing.
“Matt’s a beautiful guy. I love him. He’s my best friend. He’s been great to me my whole life. He’s a brilliant guy.I would not suggest living with him,” Ben said onThe Late Late Show with James Corden.
TheDeep Wateractor continued: “He has an ability … you know people who block things out? One of the things he blocks out is the idea that when you finish with something, it has to be washed or thrown away.”
Ben went on to tellJames Cordenof a time when he and Casey went on a cleaning strike for two weeks. It didn’t phase Damon, and they conceded once maggots started growing in the apartment.
“God bless [Damon’s] wife, Lucy. There’s a place for you in heaven,” he joked.
When talking withSunday TODAY’sWillie Geist, Damon had nothing but good things to say about working with Affleck on their filmAir.
July 21, 2023: Matt Damon says the death of his dad changed his relationship with Ben Affleck
When Damon’s dad died in 2017, it was devastating for theJason Bournealum and Affleck.
“Ben was very, very close with him. It’s likeit changed something in us,” Damon said during an interview onWho’s Talking to Chris Wallace. “You start to see the end game and you start to feel like I want to make every second count. I don’t want to fritter away time anymore.”
source: people.com
