Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been famous friends since they were kids. They embarked on their acting journey together back in Boston, Massachusetts, which led them to winning an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, which made them both movie stars. Despite both actors going off on their own, and having individually lucrative acting careers, they have always been tight, and is an enduring Hollywood friendship fans love to watch play out. Despite their 40+ year friendship, of course there are small things that they each do that bug each other, and now Damon is revealing what it is.
In a recent interview with BBC Radio 1, Damon had the pleasure of answering questions that were submitted by kids while he was there to promote one of the most anticipated movies on the 2026 movie release schedule, The Odyssey. One of the kids asked the Oscar winner if there was anything his bestie and frequent collaborator, Ben Affleck, did that annoyed him and of course he was able to think of something right away. He said:
If I had to pick one thing, I'd say if we've been in 10,000 meetings in our life, Ben's never been the first one there. No, I'm always waiting for him. He's always a little late."
This is such a real answer. While we all love our friends, often to make a lifelong friendship work in the long-term, you have to endure the little idiosyncrasies that might be annoying to you about the other person. Damon clearly loves Affleck and their tight bond, but it is totally fair to be annoyed at habitual lateness. I feel like we all have that one friend that we always anticipate having a loose relationship with over time, and for Damon, that seems to be Affleck.
The former Batman actor’s lateness to meetings is probably something Damon deals with a lot more now than he used to now that the duo are again working together more frequently. They have a production company called Artists’ Equity where they produce films that they occasionally star in together.
After decades of strategically working separately, they have co-starred in three films together in the last five years, with more coming. All of these films, The Last Duel, Air, and The Rip, are notably very good, which shows there is true magic when these best friends work together, extending beyond their Good Will Hunting roots.
I think the fact that they both have personality traits that annoy each other is what makes their friendship even more real. Affleck might be late, but as the Jason Bourne star mentioned in this interview, Damon is messy, saying:
When we lived together when we were younger, I was messy. He would definitely talk smack about that, and he has before.
Having lived and worked together, they know each other intimately enough to recognize the flaws in each other and adapt. This shorthand makes them closer, and makes the work that they do as a duo even better. They love each other for all their shortcomings, which is what makes them everyone’s favorite Hollywood “couple.”
You can see Matt Damon and Ben Affleck together in their latest movie, The Rip, which is currently streaming now with a Netflix subscription. Fans of these actors can also look forward to Affleck’s upcoming directing/acting endeavor, Animals, which Damon produced and is coming to the 2026 Netflix release schedule very soon.
