Matt Damon Says 45-Year Friendship with Ben Affleck Has 'Gone Through Different Phases' as 'Circumstances' Changed (Exclusive)
- - Matt Damon Says 45-Year Friendship with Ben Affleck Has 'Gone Through Different Phases' as 'Circumstances' Changed (Exclusive)
Meredith Wilshere, Rebecca AizinJanuary 31, 2026 at 10:00 PM
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Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Cindy Ord/Getty
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's friendship has evolved over the last four decades
The pair grew up together in Cambridge, Mass., and met in 1980 while in elementary school
Damon spoke to PEOPLE about their bond at the premiere of their new movie, The Rip
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have one of the most iconic friendships in Hollywood as friends from childhood who broke into the business together and continue to work together.
At the premiere of their new movie, The Rip, in New York City earlier this month, Damon addressed the different ways that their friendship has evolved over the last four decades.
“Well the circumstances of our lives have changed a lot and obviously we've gone through different phases of life, having kids, so those things are vastly different but I feel like who we are as people was kind of established together a long time ago in our adolescence and teens and those things have been pretty consistent,” the Jason Bourne actor, 55, shares with PEOPLE at the Jan. 13 premiere.
Ben Affleck (L) and Matt Damon (R)
HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty
Damon and Affleck first met in 1980, when they were 10 and 8 years old, respectively, while living in Cambridge, Mass. They later attended high school together, bonding over acting and baseball.
As teenagers, they started auditioning together before writing 1997's Good Will Hunting, thrusting them into the spotlight and earning them both an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Naturally, they also starred as best friends in the film.
In 2005, Damon married Luciana Barroso and the pair shares four daughters. Affleck, meanwhile, shares three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. He and the Gone Girl actress were together for 10 years before they split in 2015. Their divorce was finalized three years later. Affleck, 53, then wed Jennifer Lopez in 2022, but the pair called it quits two years later.
Affleck and Damon have worked together and collaborated multiple times over the last 45 years, including in movies like Dogma, Air, and The Last Duel. In 2022, the pair also teamed up to create a production company, Artists Equity.
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Matt Damon Ben Affleck in "Good Will Hunting"
Prime
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2023, Affleck reflected on a period in the late 2000s and early 2010s when the pair took a step back from working together as frequently.
"At some point, we got convinced of this idea, like, 'Well, you don't wanna work together all the time, you'll become sort of associated with each other.' And that's negative," he said. "But ultimately, it was sort of like, 'F--k that. I don't know, let's work together.' Cause that's the beautiful, that's the fun."
In the same interview, Damon said, "We can now look at the last 20 years and go like, 'Well, the benefit of hindsight, what would we have done differently?' And I think we both came to the conclusion that we would've worked together a lot more."
The two teamed up once again as actors and producers for their new Netflix movie, The Rip. The crime thriller, which came out on Jan. 16, also features Teyana Taylor, Kyle Chandler, Steven Yeun and Sasha Calle.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
