Matt Damon once referred to Ben Affleck as his "hetero lifemate".
In 2010, Affleck’s then-wife Jennifer Garner joked about Affleck being part of one of the
greatest love stories ever told - just not with her but with his best friend, Damon.
Fast-forward to 2020. Ben Affleck is now a divorced dad-of-three, a recovering alcoholic
who is opening up about his demons. The only thing that remains a constant in his life
is his relationship with Damon. Or is it? Wasn’t their friendship compromised
by Affleck’s divorce? Did Damon and his wife Luciana take sides in Affleck’s drama?
Let’s see if there ever was a moment when two best friends and business partners, Matt
Damon and Ben Affleck, doubted each other. Oh by the way, do you see that Subscribe button?
Don’t forget to click it! The RumourJuice team will keep you updated on all the things
showbiz-related. And now, on to what goes inside what is now known as Hollywood’s
most admirable and genuine friendship, most long-lasting bromance.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
They met through their mothers when Ben was eight, and Matt was ten. Their families lived
a couple of blocks away from each other in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The two boys spent
a lot of time together as kids, and went to the same high school.
In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Damon recalled a significant episode from his school
life when he knew he could rely on Affleck as his trusted friend. That day, Damon almost
got into a fight with a bigger kid. But the incident was over before anything could happen
because Affleck came out of nowhere and tackled the bully off of him.
"I remember that was a big moment,” Damon said. “Like, 'This guy will put himself
in a really bad spot for me. This is a good friend.' "
Years later, Ben Affleck returned the sentiment, albeit in a more adult and arguably more questionable
manner. In 1998, he spoke about his best friend with Oprah Winfrey. Affleck revealed that
People magazine asked him to contribute to their profile on Matt Damon, and then they
refused to print his quote. So what did Affleck say? Here we go. Ben Affleck said that if
he woke up in a hotel room with a dead prostitute, Matt Damon would be the first person he’d
call. On Oprah, Affleck explained that it was a reference to Godfather, where a character
was set up as a murderer in a similar way. “It hasn't happened to me,” Affleck elaborated,
“but if it did happen to me, I would call Matt. That's friendship.”
By the way, it was Matt Damon who encouraged Affleck to view acting as his profession.
Although a family friend was a casting director and helped the young Ben make his first steps
within the industry, Affleck felt pretty uninspired. None of the other kids understood what he
did or what the craft entailed. “Acting was a solo activity where I’d
just go off and do something, act in a little TV show or something, and no one understood
it. None of the other kids knew what it was I did, how it worked, or anything,” Affleck
shared in 2007. “All of a sudden I had this friend, Matt,
and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it's interesting and wants to talk about it.”
The pair further bonded over their love for the same thing, acting and filmmaking.
“I think we fed on each other’s obsession during really formative, important years and
that bonded us for life," Damon told ET Online. Of course, the pair famously shot up the career
ladder with their 1997 movie, Good Will Hunting, which the two co-wrote and both starred in.
The movie went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
That was after Affleck and Damon supported each other as they assured their parents to
let them pursue careers in filmmaking. And after the two friends were struggling while
trying to achieve any success
in acting. Not only were Affleck and Damon roommates, they also had a shared budget.
"If one kid had enough for a candy bar, then the candy bar was bought and split in half
— that’s just the way it’s been," Matt Damon told CNN in 2011.
The two would make some money from doing local commercials. The guys would use the extra
money from their joint bank account to use on trips to New York to audition.
As Affleck told Playboy in 1999, they used to rent a house on the beach in Venice. “800
people came and stayed with us and got drunk,” Affleck recalled. “Then we ran out of money
and had to get an apartment. […] Everything was exciting. We’d get thrown out of some
places or we’d have to upgrade or downgrade depending on who had money.”
Thanks to the success of Good Will Hunting, the two friends became business partners and
have established two production companies. It then makes sense that the two friends have
had each other’s back and guided each other through some tough moments.
Ben Affleck has been involved in several pretty high-profile relationships. First, he dated
fellow actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Despite their break-up, the two are on friendly terms. Next
came Affleck’s romance with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez. The couple became engaged
and were on the verge of marriage, but the wedding was postponed and eventually called
off due to excessive media attention. According to Matt Damon, his friend’s life
and career suffered greatly because of extensive public coverage. All of this led to people
getting annoyed with Affleck. Matt said his best friend confided in him
and complained that people would buy magazines with Ben Affleck’s name on them, but not
movie tickets with Ben Affleck as an actor. Ben even compared his situation to being in
jail. Damon admitted it pained him to see his friend
struggle because of this. Affleck’s relationship with Lopez portrayed him as a “talentless
meathead”. “It was painful to be his friend, because
it wasn't fair, you know?,” Damon lamented. But he went on to praise Ben for emerging
from this situation, head held high. “And through his work, he climbed from the bottom
of the mountain all the way back up to the top and past where either of us had ever been."
Affleck’s wounds seemingly healed when he met and started dating actress Jennifer Garner
in mid-2004. They co-starred in Pearl Harbor and Daredevil, and were married in 2005.
Meanwhile, Damon’s personal life wasn’t as tumultuous. He did date actresses Minnie
Driver and Wynona Ryder. There was a minor public uproar when Driver first learned of
their break-up when Damon revealed in an interview with Oprah that he was single. Damon, however,
remains friends with Ryder. “Matt couldn’t be a greater, nicer guy.
I’m really lucky that I’m on good terms with him,” Ryder said in 2009.
Then, in 2005, Damon met his wife Luciana. She was bartending at a bar Damon reluctantly
went to with some crew members he worked with on the set of Stuck on You.
On Ellen, Damon recounted first laying eyes on his wife-to-be. She just stood out to him
from across a crowded room. Luciana’s account of their first meeting
is a little bit more grounded. The crowd got slightly aggressive while asking Damon to
sign autographs. That is why the actor decided to hide behind the bar. “He came and hid
behind my bar… [wanting to] just hang out back there and have a drink. He says, ‘Oh
I saw you and I really wanted to talk to you.’ ” But she was quick to admit they indeed
had an instant connection and felt at ease with each other.
Damon then helped Luciana make drinks for the crowd. Sparks flew, as they say in romance
novels. The pair were married in 2005. Matt has adopted Luciana’s first-born daughter
from her previous relationship. He and his wife went on to have three more girls.
Matt says he got really lucky when he fell in love with a woman whose job and life wasn’t
as public as his. “I fell in love with a civilian. Not an
actress and not a famous actress at that. Because then the attention doesn’t double
– it grows exponentially. Because then suddenly everybody wants to be in your bedroom,”
Damon remarked bitterly. For a period of time, the Damons were neighbours
with the Afflecks, as the two families lived on the same street in California. The entire
gang of friends, including Ben’s younger brother Casey, used to go skiing together.
Affleck’s life, however, was affected by his personal struggles. Having grown up in
an environment where his closest relatives were struggling with alcohol and drug addiction,
he became prone to these vices as well. Affleck admitted that his drinking problem
grew as his marriage was falling apart. The drinking led to even more marital problems.
Ben and Jennifer announced their split in 2015. The divorce was finalized in 2018.
“The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” Affleck said in a recent interview. “Shame
is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It’s just stewing in a toxic,
hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing.” It was painful, Affleck says, even taking
into account that he and Jennifer eventually worked out what’s best for them and their
three kids. Now, however, Affleck is all about recovery.
“I have certainly made mistakes. I have certainly done things that I regret. But you’ve
got to pick yourself up, learn from it, learn some more, try to move forward.”
As Ben Affleck was going through a painful process of divorce, his best pal Matt Damon
was photographed as he was leaving a therapist’s office accompanied by his wife. Were the Damon
spouses facing their own marital issues as Affleck was separating from Jennifer?
No, they weren’t. Still, Damon’s need to see a therapist was inspired by a sad development.
Matt’s father was diagnosed with cancer, and the actor needed professional help to
cope with the imminent loss. Luciana was by his side to support him through these trying
times, and that’s it. On his part, Damon found the strength and
courage to be at Affleck’s side. Ben would later tell Entertainment Tonight: "I can't
tell you how valuable it is to have somebody who's been through things with you, ups and
downs, who knows what your life experience is like, who can identify with that."
It’s good to see that Affleck is trying to get his life together. With the help of
Damon, he is on his way to sobriety, despite his recently heavily-documented drunken slip-up.
He is an amazing dad to his three kids. He is in a new relationship with actress Ana
de Armas. And the duo of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will strike again as co-writers and
co-stars in their latest project titled, The Last Duel.
In March 2020, Affleck joked that him becoming an actor inspired Matt Damon to do the same.
“It made Matt Damon so incredibly jealous,” Affleck said. “It drove him into a career
in cinema. So, I really take credit for that.” So have Ben Affleck and Matt Damon faced any
life challenges not together, but because of each other? Nah, we don’t think so!
Has their friendship inspired you in any way? Tell us us your “bestie” story in the
comment section below!