Matt Damon explains how he relied on pal Ben Affleck after becoming famous

Matt Damon opened up about how he relied on his friend Benn Affleck for past 25 years after becoming famous.

In the new issue of PEOPLE, Damon, who is starring with his longtime friend in the new movie Air, revealed about relying on Affleck after they embraced fame more than two decades ago following the success of their 1997 drama Good Will Hunting.

Calling their friendship "everything to me," Damon, 52, told the outlet that his life would be "unimaginably harder" without Affleck, 50, who is also serving as his cowriter in the film.

"It's been really helpful to check in with Ben throughout this whole surreal process over the last 25 years. I think the shock of becoming famous is so... I mean, that messed me up for a couple years," said Damon.

He continued "because the whole world just starts to treat you differently. And so your subjective experience changes. It's like somebody rewrites your code in the Matrix, but just your code."

"It's like, 'Oh, my whole experience has been altered in this really overwhelming way.' And so to have somebody who I've known my whole life who I can be like, 'Hey man, is this happening to you? Are you…?' And to check in with him, it was really, really helpful. Stabilizing" he added.

Affleck, who is husband of popular singer Jennifer Lopez also agreed that they have a special connection,

"Having Matt has meant the world," said the Hypnotic actor Affleck, "It's not just Matt. It's Matt's dad who I adore and love enormously."

"He passed away recently. And his mom and stepdad, his brother. His kids, who just came to the premiere and made me want to burst into tears because they're so beautiful and grown up and amazing. You get to be part of somebody's whole life in that way. It's been an enormous gift" he added.