Both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have impressive filmographies individually, but they have done some of their best works together. The two actors co-wrote the script of the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, for which they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1998. Following the announcement of Affleck’s divorce from Jennifer Lopez, his friendship with Damon has drawn considerable attention.
Here is everything we know about Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s friendship.
Are Ben Affleck and Matt Damon friends?
Yes, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are friends.
In fact, the two share one of the most long-lasting and well-known friendships in Hollywood. In a 1999 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Damon referred to Affleck as his best friend and reflected on how approachable the other man is despite being a movie star.
“Ben has always had an incredible charisma. People are just getting introduced to it through film,” the Oppenheimer actor said. “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.”
How long have Ben Affleck and Matt Damon been friends?
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been friends since they were children.
The two future Hollywood A-listers met in the ’80s — when Affleck was eight and Damon was ten, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the city they grew up in. In a 2019 interview with Conan O’Brien, Damon spoke about an incident in which a bigger kid attacked him, and Affleck came to his rescue. “I remember that was like a big moment,” Damon recalled thinking afterward. “He will put himself in a really bad spot for me. This is a good friend.”
Damon and Affleck’s first project together was Field of Dreams (1989), in which they were uncredited extras. They also worked together in School Ties (1992) before writing and appearing in Good Will Hunting. Since then, they have collaborated on Chasing Amy (1997), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and The Last Duel (2021). In late 2022, Damon and Affleck co-founded the production company Artists Equity, which has developed films such as Air (2023) and The Instigators (2024).
