Matt Damon celebrates his 50th birthday on October 8th. The US actor's career was shaped by a real friendship between men.
Matt Damon will turn 50 on October 8th. The actor and screenwriter is very lucky: both in the early stages of his career and in his future film projects, he can count on one of his childhood best friends.
Matt Damon was born in 1970 to a stockbroker and professor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lived there with his mother and brother Kyle (53) after the divorce of his parents and graduated from school – always by his side: Ben Affleck (48).
Common ancestors and passions
The two met through their mothers and were introduced to each other at the age of eight and ten, as Affleck revealed in an interview in 2007. They lived just two blocks apart, sharing a love of baseball and acting. For the latter passion, the friends, who later learned that they even have common ancestors, went to great lengths and attended auditions together.
Together they won roles in "Field of Dreams" (1989), "School Ties" (1992), "Glory Daze" (1995) and "Chasing Amy" (1997). From 1988 to 1992 Damon made a detour to Harvard University, where he studied English. But he broke off his studies when he got a role in "Geronimo – Eine Legende" (1993). He moved to Los Angeles to gain a foothold as an actor. Affleck also tried his luck there and the two implemented a joint project that was to be the beginning of two great careers.
Hollywood's blockbuster man
"Good Will Hunting" (1997) tells the story of the petty criminal Will Hunting, who turns out to be a math genius. Damon and Affleck wrote the script, Damon starred, and his buddy became his onscreen buddy Chuckie. In 1998 Damon and Affleck received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best screenplay for their work. Except for a few appearances together in front of the camera, such as in 1999 in "Dogma" or 2002 in "Help, I have a date!", The two went their separate ways professionally.
"Good Will Hunting" was just the beginning for Damon. At the beginning of the 2000s, numerous blockbuster roles were waiting for him. He played in the "Ocean's Eleven" series (2001, 2004, 2007) alongside George Clooney (59) and took on the lead role in "The Bourne Identity" (2002) and its four sequels (2004, 2007, 2012 and 2016) . In 2006 he also played in Martin Scorsese's (77) thriller "Departed", which won four Oscars. His long-term presence on the big screen has been rewarded: In 2007 Matt Damon was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
His other film successes include Ridley Scott's (82) "Der Martianer – Rettet Mark Watney" (2015), the tragic comedy "Downsizing" (2017) and the racing driver film "Le Mans 66 – Against every chance" (2019), in which he embodied the brilliant car designer Carroll Shelby (1923-2012).
Another project with his buddy
In 2020 the good news: Damon will finally team up with Affleck again. "The Last Duel" is set in 14th century France and is about the dispute between Sir Jean de Carrouges (1330-1396) and Jacques Le Gris (1330-1386). They contested the last judicial duel before this form of duels was banned. The screenplay for the film comes from Affleck, Damon and Nicole Holofcener (60). The film is based on the novel of the same name by Eric Jager (63).
In an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" in February 2020, Affleck spoke to many fans from the soul: "Matt and I asked ourselves: Why haven't we done this more often?" For the new film, the two count on another ingredient of the "Good Will Hunting" recipe for success: they play along themselves. Matt Damon will play a leading role, Affleck will appear in a supporting role.
In addition to Affleck, there is another constant in Damon's life: on December 9, 2005, he married Luciana Barroso (44), whom he met in 2003 while filming "Inseparable". They have three daughters together. Barroso also brought a daughter into the marriage.