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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Friendship Through the Years

25 photos
Apr 04, 2023 11:49 PM
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Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting
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Miramax Films

Hometown Kids

Damon and Affleck share a scene as troubled genius Will and his devoted childhood pal Chuckie in their breakout hit Good Will Hunting, which was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Damon, Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Original Screenplay.


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2/25
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Made It

Awards season heats up in 1998 as Ben and Matt walk the carpet at the Golden Globes, celebrating Good Will Hunting's four nominations.


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3/25
HAL GARB/AFP/Getty Images

Hey, We Won!

Affleck and Damon pose with their first Golden Globes, Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. Affleck won another, in 2013, for directing Argo, and Damon won in 2016, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, for The Martian.


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4/25
AFP PHOTO/Timothy A. Clary

Thank You, Boston!

Best Original Screenplay winners Affleck and Damon make sure to give a shout-out to their formative hometown, which helped inspire the first-ever movie they wrote together, Good Will Hunting.


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5/25
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

Golden Men

Damon and Affleck relish their Oscar win in 1998.


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6/25
Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Prettiest Gals in the Room

Affleck and Damon show off their Oscar night dates—moms Chris Affleck and Nancy Carlsson-Paige—in 1998.


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For Laughs

Damon and Affleck teamed up as fallen angels Loki and Bartleby in Kevin Smith's 1999 comedy Dogma.


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8/25
Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage

Just a Couple of Dudes

Matt and Ben dress down in Miami Beach in 2006.


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9/25
E. Charbonneau/WireImage for Focus Features

Super Men

Damon supports his buddy in 2006 at a screening of Hollywoodland, in which Affleck played George Reeves, the tragic actor who played Superman in the 1950s-era TV series.


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10/25
John Parra/WireImage

Date Night

Both pals got married in 2005, and in 2008 they enjoyed a night out all together in Miami Beach. Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who have three children together, split up in 2015 and eventually divorced in 2018. Damon and wife Luciana, parents of four daughters, will celebrate 15 years of marriage in December 2020.


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11/25
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Same Old, Same Old

Matt and Ben hang out, 'cause that's what they do.


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12/25
Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images

You Earned It, Buddy

Naturally, Affleck was among the stars who feted (and roasted) Damon while presenting him with the American Cinematheque Award in 2010.

"I kind of started out at the same time as the guy, so this is a special night for me, too," Ben quipped.


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13/25
Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic

Best Buds

They always look ready for a marathon poker tournament.


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14/25
Angela Weiss/Getty Images

Creative Control

The chums celebrate the return after 10 years of Project Greenlight, their HBO series about bringing indie films to fruition, in 2014.


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15/25
Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Swisher Productions

Family Matter

Affleck is on hand to support brother Casey Affleck and honorary brother Damon at the 2014 premiere of Manchester by the Sea, which Affleck and Damon co-produced and for which Casey would go on to win the Oscar for Best Actor (and forget to thank Ben, which turned into a whole funny thing).


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16/25
Angela Weiss/Getty Images

The Good Shepherds

Affleck and Damon are on hand to support Project Greenlight's season four winner, The Leisure Class, at the film's 2015 premiere.


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17/25
Nicola Bailey for The New York Times

Good Will Reading

Affleck and Damon reprised their roles as Chuckie and Will for a live reading of Good Will Hunting in 2016, and enlisted some of their talented friends to sit in, including John Krasinski, who narrated; Emily Blunt playing Skylar; Keegan-Michael Key as Billy; and Margo Martindale filling the mighty shoes of the late Robin Williams as Dr. Maguire.


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18/25

Wingman

Damon celebrates Affleck landing the Caped Crusader cowl in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and ensuing DC Universe films, 20 years after both actors auditioned for and didn't get the role of Robin back when Tim Burton was making Batman movies. (The sidekick eventually showed up in Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever.)


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19/25
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

We're Back!

Affleck and Damon reunite at the Oscars in 2017 to present the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, 19 years after their momentous win.


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20/25
Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Wait, What?

And here they are looking as amazed as anybody to see that Moonlight was the actual Best Picture winner instead of La La Land.


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21/25
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Sporting Scene

Matt and Ben enjoy a night out with fellow Boston sports nut Bill Simmons.


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22/25
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What Curse?

The lifelong Red Sox fans got emotional celebrating their team's 2018 World Series title.


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23/25
David Fisher/Shutterstock

Buona Sera

Affleck and Damon hit the 2021 Venice Film Festival in support of The Last Duel, their first screenwriting collaboration since Good Will Hunting.


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24/25
Gary Miller/WireImage

Slam Dunk

The Artists Equity co-founders celebrate the March 2023 premiere of Air at SXSW, the first film from their new studio. The feel-good true story stars Damon as Nike rep Sonny Vaccaro, the visionary who got a just-drafted Michael Jordan to sign with the shoe company in 1984 by convincing the future NBA superstar's mom (Viola Davis) that they were the right fit for her son. Affleck plays Nike founder Phil Knight.

A bazillion pairs of Air Jordans sold later...

 


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