SUMMARY
  • Ben Affleck says Matt Damon is NOT an ideal roommate.
  • Affleck recalls one superpower that Matt Damon had while they were living together.
  • Matt Damon talks about public scrutiny.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s friendship is one of the most famous and admired friendships in the industry. The two of them have been friends since they were in elementary school, and they bonded over their similar interests in baseball and acting. Their bonding had led them to collaborate on-screen, including their critically acclaimed movie Good Will Hunting, along with The Last Duel, Air, and more.

Ben Affleck & Matt Damon
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon | Scene from Good Will Hunting | Credits: Miramax Films

Affleck and Damon have been each other’s support through thick and thin. Damon had been an integral part of Affleck’s healing while he was going through a public divorce from his ex-wife Jennifer Garner. There have been times when Ben Affleck has admitted that being friends with Matt Damon has kept him sane in the industry. The two of them are a dream team when it comes to work, friendship, and business; however, the same cannot be said of them as roommates.

Ben Affleck does not miss living with best friend Matt Damon

Upon his appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Ben Affleck was asked about his best friend and frequent collaborator as a roommate, and it turns out he might not be an ideal roommate. Affleck and Matt Damon lived together along with Affleck’s brother, Casey Affleck, when they had just started their career. He said,

Matt’s a beautiful guy. I love him. He’s my best friend. He’s been great to me my whole life. He’s a brilliant guy. I would not suggest living with him. Because he has an ability… you know people who block things out? I think that’s why he’s such a great actor—because he can just focus, you know.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Ben Affleck talks about living with Matt Damon | Credits: Miramax Films

The actor recalled that he, along with his brother, cleaned up for Damon for years, adding that one of the things that Damon blocks out is the idea that when something’s done, it has to be washed or thrown away. Affleck stated that he and Casey decided to go on a strike to see if Damon would notice and push himself to do chores.

We’re just going to wait and see how long he will go before he gets up and goes, ‘God, I’m covered in garbage‘.

To Affleck’s surprise, their strike didn’t do much, as he recalled that one day he and Casey came home to find Damon in shorts and a T-shirt playing a ’92 Sega hockey game in the middle of their living room. The Gone Girl actor noted that Damon was just surrounded by concentric circles of garbage: pizza boxes and sushi that was probably a week old, and he added that there were maggots.

Affleck said that they admitted to him that he’s too good and they cannot beat him. The actor joked and said, ‘God bless his wife, Lucy,‘ adding that there is a place for her in heaven.’

Matt Damon says he’s fortunate to be excused from public scrutiny compared to Ben Affleck

While promoting his recent movie The Instigators along with Casey Affleck, Matt Damon appeared on the Radio Times podcast, where he touched upon the subject of public scrutiny. He added,

I’ve been really lucky in that way, especially when I look at Casey’s brother Ben. I can’t imagine living under that kind of scrutiny. And it’s been like that for 25 years, and we’ve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, so I’m fortunate to have been kind of excused from that part of it.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in Dogma | Credits: Miramax Films

Despite starting their careers together in their late 20s, the paths that Damon and Affleck took were different. They stayed close and supported each other like always, but when it came to media attention, it was different for them. Damon recalled that the magazine culture was immensely popular back in the day, and he was left out because he was married, and who’d want to read about a guy who was married? He added,

What would sell those things were scandal and s*x and all that stuff… And as long as you didn’t do any of that stuff, it wasn’t really worth their time to wait to take your picture, and so I ended up kind of getting left alone.

Talking about his wife Luciana Barroso, Damon noted that he was lucky he fell in love with someone who was not in the business and would be able to tolerate that side of it. He concluded that his wife’s support has been really helpful for him. They share four daughters.

Good Will Hunting is available to stream on Prime Video and Hulu.

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