Matt Damon reveals his father’s death affected his friendship with best pal Ben Affleck

By Web Desk
July 22, 2023

Matt Damon discusses his friendship with longtime pal Ben Affleck amid 'Oppenheimer' success

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Matt Damon recalled a period in time when he and his best pal Ben Affleck weren't that close following the death of his father, Kent Damon, in 2017.

The Oppenheimer star, 52, revealed that he realized what he and the Air director, 50, were missing after watching 2021 Beatles documentary Get Back.

Speaking on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace, the Hollywood star said he now wants "to make every second count" when it comes to working with his longtime friend.

Damon and Affleck, who have been childhood friends and co-wrote the screenplay for 1997 hit movie Good Will Hunting,have "been bizarrely close for a long time,” The Martian star said.

He said after his father, with whom Affleck "was very, very close with," passed away in 2017, “it changed something in us.”

However, after watching Get Back, which chronicles what went behind the scenes when the famous band wrote and recorded their final studio album prior to their 1970 breakup, Damon said it "made me so sad... because you look at them and they're so happy."

“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," Damon said. "I don't want to fritter away time anymore."

"And Ben and I, I called him and I said, 'Look man, you know, we were talking about [working together more] and it's been 25 years or something since Good Will Hunting like... what are we doing?'"

"'You know, we both kind of hit the lottery. Why aren't we working together more often?' " Damon recalled referring to them working together on their claim to fame 1997 drama.

Following the success of the Gus Van Sant directorial, for which they both received Academy Awards for their screenplay, they refrained from working together till 2021.

They reunited for The Last Duel 24 years after their first film together and went on to laid the foundation of their production company Artists Equity in November, 2022.


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