Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are the movie star besties of their generation. Growing up in Boston together, the childhood friends catapulted to superstardom when they wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won both of them Oscars in their 20s. Since then, they've worked together a few other times, and most recently they starred in the film Air together, which Affleck also directed. Now, the Ford vs. Ferrari actor has revealed that these two are "bizarrely" closer than ever, and he shared what it was like reuniting on screen this year.
The Stillwater actor was recently interviewed by the titular host on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, which is fully available on Max. He talked about his relationship with Affleck, which spans decades, and how it has evolved throughout both of their movie star careers. He also talked about how Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary, Get Back, inspired the two to start working together even more. He explained:
We’ve been bizarrely close for a long time. You know, I was watching Get Back, the Peter Jackson documentary. At the end of that you see that (About the Beatles) Yeah, it’s all about the Beatles and at the end they’re playing on the roof in London and it says this is the last time that they ever played together, live. And it made me so sad like to think of these because you look at them and they’re so happy. And Ben and I, I called him and I said look man, you know, we were talking about doing this and it’s like you know, it’s been 25 years or something since Good Will Hunting like let’s...what are we doing? You know, we both kind of hit the lottery. Why aren’t we working together more often? And, you know, after my dad passed, you know, in 2017 and Ben was very, very close with him. It’s like it changed something in us I think and you know, you start to really...you start to see the end game and you start to feel like I want to make every second count. You know, I really I you know, I don’t want to fritter away time anymore.
Affleck has also gushed about wanting to work with Damon more as they both enter the next phase in their careers. Both actors are fully established superstars, with dozens of films under their belt. It makes sense that they want to focus more on working with people that they already know they like working with. Also, I think it’s totally adorable that these two love each other as much as they do. Both have had so many ups and downs in their careers, and they have stood by each other through thick and thin, navigating fame as a duo.
After Good Will Hunting, the duo went their separate ways for a while, taking on many different kinds of projects. Matt Damon found success in more filmmaker-led feats like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Saving Private Ryan, while Affleck did big blockbusters like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. They switched places when Damon led the Bourne action franchise and Affleck became a prolific director. They finally found their way back to each other when they co-wrote The Last Duel with Nicole Holofcener, and Damon starred in Affleck’s directorial feat, Air. These latest projects proved their continued strength as individual creatives are made grander when they work together.
These statements by the Oppenheimer star suggest the two still have every intention of continuing to work closely together. The actors co-created a studio called Actors Equity that allows for the entire team on a project to have a larger chunk of the profits. They are set to reunite once again as producers for The Instigators. The film will be helmed by The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman for AppleTV+, and Damon and Casey Affleck are co-starring in the heist film. This duo has seemingly become even more inseparable as the years have gone on, and we’d all be so lucky to have such an enduring friendship.
You can catch both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in their latest film, Air, which is streaming now with an Amazon Prime subscription. Their most notable professional feat, Good Will Hunting, is also streaming and is available for Max subscribers.
