Matt Damon and Ben Affleck shot to stardom with their 1997 film Good Will Hunting. The
movie received acclaim, and the pair won an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay.
In addition, the two have been friends for over forty years,
setting an example of male friendship full of love and support. Today, we're taking a closer look
at how two drama geeks became Hollywood stars, including how they held business lunches at school
and the time one of them convinced a landlord to rent them a place despite not having the money.
Matt Damon might be Bennifer’s biggest fan now, but the two actors
have supported each other for FOUR decades now. Damon and Affleck first became friends when their
mothers introduced the little boys. Ben was eight and Matt was ten. They had similar interests,
just like their mothers. Damon's was a professor of childhood education,
and Affleck's was a schoolteacher. But what really cemented the friendship
was Affleck defending Damon in a fight when they were young.
Matt was about to get beaten up by a bigger kid when, at the last second, Affleck fought him off.
“I remember that was like a big moment,” Matt said. “He will put himself in a really
bad spot for me. This is a good friend.” They also came through for each other by
defending their choice to pursue acting careers to parents who were understandably worried
given the low odds of success in the entertainment industry at the time.
Affleck began acting at a young age, as a family friend was a casting director and
introduced him to the industry. The roles he took as a kid were super cheesy, but, quote,
“it instilled in me a deep love and affection for this art and craft and line of work,
and it made Matt Damon so incredibly jealous, it drove him into a career in cinema.”
Affleck certainly doesn’t shy away from taking credit. But Damon was the one who helped his
friend become serious about the craft. Before Matt, Ben was all by himself.
The acting was a solo activity where he would just go act in a little TV show,
and no one understood it. None of the other kids knew what it was and how it worked.
Then, suddenly, he had this friend, who gets it and wants to do it and thinks it’s interesting and
wants to talk about it. And soon, both of them were “doing it” while holding business lunches
to plan their future. Isn’t this adorable? Filmmaking became a shared pursuit for the
two friends. They were both in love with acting and filmmaking. “ I think we fed on each other’s
obsession during really formative, important years and that bonded us for life,” Damon said.
When it was time to head to college — Harvard University for Damon and,
initially, the University of Vermont for Affleck — the two remained close,
even regularly talking on the phone. And a few years later, their trust and respect
for one another allowed the young creatives to co-write the script for Good Will Hunting
and then reap the rewards of that breakout hit. Once, Daily Variety said that they would get
$600,000 on it, and the young actors were quick to use that to their advantage.
Having no credit, they went to rent a house that was $3,000 a month, using a copy of the
newspaper (!) “I was like, ‘I don’t have credit, but this is who we are.’ And the landlord was
like, ‘All right, sure.’” Affleck said. Of course, one of the rewards they got
was winning their first Oscar for Best Writing for an Original Screenplay, with Ben Affleck
being the youngest writer to ever win an Academy Award for screenwriting. The actor was 25 years
old. “I’d be the youngest if it weren’t for Ben. F--king a--hole!” said his best friend.
With the success of Good Will Hunting, they were able to put their training into practice.
The two started a production company and created the reality show Project Greenlight to provide
aspiring filmmakers with the opportunity to see their projects become a reality.
Damon and Affleck actually did a lot more than encouraging each other to act — they were there
for one another financially. At one point, our young and aspiring actors had a joint bank
account. It was filled with the money they both made from local commercials and could only be used
for trips to New York to audition. “We’d take the train. Or sometimes we’d even take the aeroplane.
It cost like $20 to fly, and you could smoke on the plane. We were smoking like
idiots because we thought we were really supposed to be grown-up. It was pitiful.”
Damon said that this attitude was only natural, as their friendship had always followed those rules.
“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,” he explained. After they’d moved on from being kids
shooting commercials to trying to survive on their own as struggling actors,
Damon and Affleck still pooled incomes. If one got a role, that money was available to
the other until the next part came in. Apart from actually doing the work
to achieve their dreams, the two would have fun through life’s highs and lows.
Growing up, the boys had fun playing Little League or Dungeons and Dragons.
Later on, they’d hang out in Harvard Square. Ahhh, isn’t it beautiful and vibrant and full of life?
When they were older, Damon said they’d usually “end up at the same bar every night with the same
people telling the same old jokes.” Despite the usual endeavours, the pair enjoyed their time as
struggling actors. “We didn’t have the kinds of fears you have when you get into your forties if
you haven’t got to where you want to go.” They were in their twenties, and they had a blast!
And being successful Hollywood stars hasn’t kept the two from indulging in the same camaraderie.
In the humorous promotional video to raise money for a charity that offered
the chance to go on “a best friend double date” with them, Damon teased his bestie:
“Ben Affleck’s left eye twitches every time you say the word Gigli.” This was a reference to the
2003 movie — co-starring JLo, whose romance with Affleck received constant tabloid attention — that
became a notorious flop. Damon also told Affleck that “Pattinson took your job,” referring to Rob’s
take on Bruce Wayne in the upcoming Batman movie. Or back in the mid-2000s when Affleck was hosting
SNL and said, “I can’t seem to recall which Chekhov play ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ is based on,”
referencing the Jason Bourne film series, in which Damon starred as a CIA assassin for over a decade.
Decades are passing by, and they continue to encourage and respect each other’s work.
Damon said he’d love to be directed by his friend. However, he explained that Affleck tends to keep
his best roles close to home. Haha, who wouldn’t? “He’s a brilliant director, but the problem is
that he always gives the best parts to himself. So, until he starts including the rest of us,
I think we just have to go watch him be great in his movies.”
So, Mr Affleck, we’ll be waiting for you to give a decent role to your best friend!
The pair has also remained close as they made the transition from single life to married bliss.
Affleck might’ve missed Damon’s City Hall wedding back in 2005, but he later attended
his vow renewal. Their families, along with Affleck’s younger brother Casey,
have gone skiing together. For a time, they even were neighbours when Damon moved into a home on
the same street as Affleck in Pacific Palisades, California. And should we mention again the
support Ben had for his new-ish romance with JLO? Years later, the two still have each other’s
backs. During an interview in 2015, Damon said he thinks that Affleck was largely
“misunderstood” in the public eye, which has led to some unfair judgment of his character.
“Ten years ago, the public image of him could not have been farther apart from whom he actually is.
It was like he was being cast in a role, that he was a talentless kind of meathead, with his
whole relationship with Jennifer Lopez.” Matt said that it was painful to be his best friend
because it wasn’t fair. Nobody got him at all. And that’s not the only misconception people
had about the two. In 2012, Damon was asked how he felt about the long-ago speculations that he
was in a romantic relationship with Affleck. “I never denied those rumours because I was
offended and didn’t want to offend my friends who were gay — as if being gay
were some kind of f---ing disease.” It’s like being close and supporting
each other can only mean one thing — romance. When Damon received the 24th American Cinematheque
Award in 2010, Affleck and his then-wife Jennifer Garner were there to show their love and support.
Garner even made a joke about the two, saying, “Ben is half of one of the greatest love stories
ever told. The actual prototype for the great Hollywood bromance … Here’s proof that love is
alive and well in Hollywood. At least for my husband’s darling husband, Matt Damon.”
And when things turn sour, they can always count on each other, including when Affleck’s marriage
to Jennifer Garner fell apart. Matt was also a big help when Ben has struggled with addiction.
Their bromance was officially recognized at Spike TV’s Guys’ Choice Awards in 2016.
“I think it goes without saying that this is an award Matt and I have been dreaming
about since we were little boys ...” said Affleck while accepting the award.
Even describing a perfect day without work and kids,
Ben said he’d like to have a nice, relaxing day watching football with Matt.
However, he’s not sure if that day will ever come, as he doesn’t spend much time just kicking back.
As for working together more, after the trailer for their latest film, The Last Duel, premiered
in July, Damon said he hopes to collaborate with his BFF again as the years go on — mainly
because they’ve got better at time management. “I think we’ll write a lot more in the future,”
he said. “Now we can build the time, it’s a little more structured, right? Like, alright, let’s write
from 10 to 2, you know, because we can drop the kids off, and then we can pick the kids up.”
Well, we’re looking forward to their next creative adventure together
while gushing over this decades-long friendship full of love and support.
That’s all we have for you today, Juicers!
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