From a high school playground in the ’80s to the Golden Globes at the end of 2024, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s unwavering friendship is told in one podcast episode. Scandals.
Their company is one of the most famous in Hollywood. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been friends since they were teenagers, and they weren’t shy about expressing it during their reunion at the 2024 Golden Globes. A look back at lifelong understanding.
First meeting, first project and first success
In the 1980s, Ben Affleck was already enjoying a bit of success with an educational children’s series in which he was the star, Le Voyage du Mimi, a sort of It’s Not Rocket Science, but more fictional. A line that got him a bit teased at school because passing for a mini-geek wasn’t what we called cool back then. But he is not the only one who bears the taunts of his friends. One day he defends another boy who is chosen. That boy later comes to sit next to her in the cafeteria. this is the beginning of her long friendship with… Matt Damon.
Nearly ten years later, they are both at university, Ben Affleck in Los Angeles, Matt Damon at prestigious Harvard, but they stay in touch. During a writing class, Matt Damon writes a 40-page story about a young man from the suburbs of Boston who is gifted but chooses to be subversive by fighting with his friends and going back and forth to jail. A story that Ben Affleck loves because it reminds him of his father, a brilliant idea that went to waste. He helped Matt Damon rewrite the script in 1994, and then they knocked on the doors of all the producers to sell their script. Five years later, the film was released. it’s about Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant (who was not very famous at the time) and produced by Harvey Weinstein. At that time, Ben Affleck was 25 years old, Matt Damon was 27, and this event marked the beginning of their fame.
The film is a great success. It even won two Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams (who plays the psychologist), but above all, Best Original Screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. At the age of 25, the latter remains the youngest screenwriter Oscar winner to date. And his story, like Matt Damon’s, is a bit like the movie; the child from humble origins who becomes “someone”, the class dropout.
Company against all odds
The two actors haven’t really been apart since then. Showing their bond on red carpets, helping each other out in Hollywood. Like this time in 2013 when Ben Affleck was announced to play Batman and the Batman fan community (generally) not giving up, Matt Damon comes to the rescue; “I know there are a lot of unhappy people on the Internet. It still seems strange to me. we’re not talking about playing King Lear there. We are talking about Batman. It’s certainly in his ropes.” Ultimately, the film was a huge success in theaters, although it was a critical flop.
Golden Globe Reunion
This Sunday, October 7, in Los Angeles, they once again proved their steadfast friendship. In a video from the Golden Globes ceremony, Ben Affleck can be seen surprising his friend Matt Damon while he sits next to his wife Luciana Barroso, putting his hand on his old friend’s shoulder, who of course he sat down at the table next to.
Source: Le Figaro
