Best Known As: The star of the Bourne action films
Matt Damon and his high school pal Ben Affleck shared the best screenplay Oscar for writing the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. The two chums also starred in the film, and Damon was nominated for best actor, adding to the general sense of prodigies-on-the-loose surrounding the project. Over the next few years, Damon's earnest good looks and scoundrel's grin helped make him a bona fide star. He was featured in the title role in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998, with Tom Hanks), starred opposite Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, with Gwyneth Paltrow), appeared with Sean Connery in Finding Forrester (2001) and showed up in Steven Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Damon also got a big-budget trilogy of his own, starring as the amnesiac superagent Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity (2002, with Clive Owen), The Bourne Supremacy (2004, with Julia Stiles), and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, with David Strathairn). In spite of big-time Hollywood success, Damon has not strayed from small independent projects and has appeared in several of Kevin Smith's movies, including Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). He and Affleck also created Project Greenlight, a screenwriting competition and reality show that helped a few first-time filmmakers get their shot at success. Damon's other films include the cult poker film Rounders (1998, with Gretchen Mol), and Martin Scorsese's Boston crime epic The Departed (2006, with Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg).
Damon married Luciana Bozan in December 2005. Their daughter Isabella was born in 2006, and a second daughter, Gia, was born in 2008. Bozan also has a daughter, Alexia, from a previous relationship... Damon was an extra in the 1989 Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams... All three Bourne movies were based on the book series by novelist Robert Ludlum.
"Success is not something I've wrapped my brain around. If people go to those movies, then yes, that's true, big-time success. If not, it's much ado about nothing. [On the prospects for his 1997 movies The Rainmaker and Good Will Hunting]"
Career Highlights: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Good Will Hunting, Dogma
First Major Screen Credit: School Ties (1992)
Biography
Going from obscure actor to Hollywood golden boy in just a handful of years, Matt Damon became an instant sensation when he co-wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting. With his Best Original Screenplay Oscar (shared by co-writer and co-star Ben Affleck), he was ensured a place on the Hollywood "It" boy roster.
A product of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born on October 8, 1970, Damon grew up in prosperous surroundings with his tax preparer father, college professor mother, and older brother. At the age of ten, he made the acquaintance of one Ben Affleck, a boy two years his junior who lived down the street. The two became best friends and professional collaborators. Educated at Cambridge's Rindge and Latin School, Damon was accepted at Harvard University, where he studied for three years before dropping out to pursue his acting career. During his time there, he had to write a screenplay for an English class: it went unfinished, but it would later be dusted off and turned into Good Will Hunting.
Arriving in Hollywood, Damon got his first break with a one-scene part in Mystic Pizza (1988). However, his film career failed to take off, and it was not until 1992, when he had a starring role in School Ties, that he was again visible to movie audiences. As the film was a relative failure, Damon's substantial role failed to win him notice, and he was back to laboring in obscurity. It was around this time, fed up with his Hollywood struggles, that Damon contacted Affleck, and the two finished writing the former's neglected screenplay and began trying to get it made into a film. It was eventually picked up by Miramax, with Gus Van Sant slated to direct and Robin Williams secured in a major role.
Before Good Will Hunting was released in 1997, Damon won some measure of recognition for his role as a drug-addicted soldier in Courage Under Fire; various industry observers praised his performance and his dedication to the part, for which he lost forty pounds and suffered resulting health problems. Any praise Damon may have received, however, was overshadowed the following year by the accolades he garnered for Good Will Hunting. His Oscar win and strong performance in the film virtually guaranteed industry adulation and steady employment, something that was made readily apparent the following year with lead roles in two major films. The first, John Dahl's Rounders, cast Damon as a former card shark trying to make good, despite the temptations posed by his ne'er-do-well buddy (Edward Norton). Despite a name cast and preliminary hype, however, the film proved a relative critical and financial disappointment. The same could not be said of Damon's second film that year, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. As Ryan's title character, Damon headlined an all-star line-up and received part of the lavish praise heaped on the film and its strong ensemble cast.
The following year, Damon further increased his profile with leads in two more highly anticipated films, Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Kevin Smith's Dogma. The former cast the actor against type as the title character, a psychotic bisexual murderer, and featured him as part of an improbably blonde and photogenic cast that included Cate Blanchett, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Dogma also allowed Damon to go against his nice-guy persona by casting him as a fallen angel. One of the year's more controversial films, it reunited him with Affleck, as well as Smith, who had cast Damon in a bit role in his 1997 film, Chasing Amy. Taking a break from psychosis and religious satire, Damon next turned-up in notable performances in a pair of low-grossing, low-key dramas, The Legend of Beggar Vance and All the Pretty Horses (both 2000), before appearing in director Steven Soderbergh's blockbuster remake of the Rat Pack classic Ocean's Eleven the following year.
2002 found the actor vacillating between earnest indie projects and major Hollywood releases, both behind and in front of the camera. First up was Damon's mentoring of neophyte filmmaker Chris Smith in the Miramax-sponsored Project Greenlight, a screenplay sweepstakes in which in the (arguably) lucky winner got the chance to make a feature film and have the process recorded for all to see on an HBO reality series of the same name. Damon's common-sense presence helped make the show a must-see, even if his protege's film -- the critically-reviled coming-of-age film Stolen Summer -- died a swift death at the box office. Damon had better luck at the summer box office, starring in director Doug Liman's jet-setting espionage thriller The Bourne Identity. Though many expected the film to be overshadowed by his old buddy Affleck's less-edgy The Sum of All Fears -- which was released just two weeks prior -- Damon proved once again that he could open a film with just as much star power as his best friend and colleague. Better yet, Bourne reinforced Damon's standings with the critics, who found his performance understated and believable.
Critics took notice of a disparaging sort, however, when they caught a glimpse of Damon's reunion project with Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant, the curiously-styled Gerry. Premiering not long after Stolen Summer at the 2002 Sundance Festival, Van Sant's latest dip into the shallow end of the avant-garde pool featured Damon as Gerry, a mostly-silent young man who gets lost in the desert with another mostly-silent young man, played by Casey Affleck, who also happens to be named Gerry. The improvisational film made little impact on festival audiences, but the star's name was enough to ensure it a limited release.
Also in 2003, Damon starred opposite Greg Kinnear in the Farrelly Brothers' broad comedy Stuck On You. Playing the shy half of a set of conjoined twins, Damon again played against type to the delight of many critics, even if the film was not the hit its makers may have hoped for. A happier box-office fate met The Bourne Supremacy, Damon's return to the role of Jason Bourne in 2004. The actor's biggest leading-man success to date, it reinforced Damon's continued clout with audiences. Staying on the high-powered sequel bandwagon, he was reunited with Brad Pitt and George Clooney for the big-budget neo-rat pack sequel Ocean's Twelve later that year.
2005 proved to be somewhat lower-key for the actor, as he appeared in the troubled flop The Brothers Grimm and joined the sprawling ensemble of the modestly successful geopolitical treatise Syriana. After working seemingly non-stop for a few years, Damon claimed only a call from Martin Scorsese would get him to give up his resolve to take some time off. Sure enough, that call came. The Departed, an American remake of the Hong Kong mob-mole thriller Infernal Affairs, co-starred Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Playing the squirmy, opportunistic "cop" to DiCaprio's moral, tormented "mobster," Damon underplayed his part to perfection while managing not to get steamrolled by the all-star supporting cast. Damon continued his seemingly ceaseless work ethic by taking the lead in the Robert De Niro-directed CIA drama The Good Shepherd.
In 2007, the actor tapped into his reserve of blockbuster franchises for the three-quels Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum, the latter of which netted him -- by far -- the largest opening-weekend take of his career to that point. On the indie side, he joined with Mark Ruffalo, Anna Paquin, and Matthew Broderick for Kenneth Lonergan's sophomore directorial effort Margaret, and he contributed his efforts to the endurance-race documentary Running the Sahara. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, and Water.org. With his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, Damon has two daughters, Isabella and Gia, and stepdaughter Alexia from Barroso's prior marriage.
Damon grew up near Ben Affleck, a close friend since childhood and collaborator on several films, and historian and author Howard Zinn,[5] whose biographical film You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train and audio version of A People's History of the United States Damon narrated.[6] He attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, and performed in several theater productions before graduating in 1988.[2] He attended Harvard University from 1988 to 1992 but did not graduate.[7] He instead pursued acting projects, including the TNT original film Rising Son and ensemble prep-school drama School Ties.[8] While at Harvard, he studied English and lived in Lowell House. He did not take part in student theater generally, but did appear in A... My Name is Alice (in one of the three male roles usually performed by women).[9] Damon dropped out of the university to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles when Geronimo: An American Legend was expected to be a big success.[10]
Acting career
Early years
His first film role came in 1988 when he was eighteen, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza.[11] Damon appeared in small roles before landing a big part in Geronimo: An American Legend with Gene Hackman and Jason Patric.[8] He next appeared as an opiate-addicted soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire. He was required to lose 40 pounds (18 kg) in 100 days (for only two days of filming).[12][13] After following a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen to lose the weight, Damon was told after filming that he was fortunate his heart did not shrink. Damon took medication for several years afterwards to correct the stress inflicted on his adrenal gland, and has stated that it was worthwhile to properly portray his character and show the industry how committed he was to the role.[11][13] In 1995, he auditioned for a small role in Cutthroat Island, but was turned away.[14]
Damon's projects include several films that are expected to debut in 2009, including his portrayal of Mr. Aaron in the drama Margaret. He began filming Green Zone in January 2008. Damon will portray rugby team captain François Pienaar in the Clint Eastwood-directed Nelson Mandela film Invictus, a film based on a 2008 The Human Factor book by John Carlin, and also featuring Morgan Freeman as Mandela.[25] Damon and director Paul Greengrass will also return to make a fourth Jason Bourne film, planned as The Bourne Legacy.[26]Steven Soderbergh has confirmed that Damon will play longtime Liberace love interest, Scott Thorsen, opposite Michael Douglas in an upcoming film centered on the pianist's life.[27] He is now also due to star in the film "True Grit" which is due to start filming in March 2010..[28]
Producing career
Along with Affleck and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, Damon founded the production company LivePlanet, through which the four created the documentary series Project Greenlight to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers.[29] The company produced and founded the failed mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada among other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004, and 2005.[10]
Box office performance
In motion pictures that feature him as a leading actor or supporting co-star, his films have grossed a total of US$1.94[30] to US$2.30 billion[31] (based on counting his roles as strictly lead or including supporting roles) at the North American box office, placing him in the top thirty-five grossing actors of all time. In August 2007, financial magazine Forbes created a list of actors who generated the best box office performance related to their salaries; the list placed Damon as the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, revealing that Damon had averaged US$29 at the box office for every dollar he earned for his last three films.[32][33]
Damon has had relationships with several actresses throughout his career. Damon had a two-year relationship with actress Winona Ryder.[11] He also dated Odessa Whitmire, who has worked as a personal assistant for Billy Bob Thornton and Affleck, from 2001 to 2003.[11] Although the media often claimed Damon dated actress Eva Mendes, both have denied any relationship.[34]
Damon met Argentine-born Luciana Bozan Barroso in Miami, where she was working as a bartender.[35] They married in a private civil ceremony on December 9, 2005, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau near New York City Hall.[35] Damon became stepfather to Bozan's young daughter, Alexia, from her previous marriage. The couple's first child together, daughter Isabella, was born in Miami, Florida on June 11, 2006.[36] On August 20, 2008, Luciana gave birth to the couple's second child, Gia Zavala Damon.[37]
Among Damon's interests include his support of the Boston Red Sox.[38] After the team won the 2007 World Series, he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event.[39]
Philanthropy
Matt Damon at the ONEXONE benefit in San Francisco, October 2008
Damon, along with frequent co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, supports ONE, a campaign fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising. Damon is also an ambassador for OneXOne, a non-profit foundation committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world.[40]
Damon is a board member of Tonic Mailstopper (formerly GreenDimes), a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day.[41] Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 20, 2007, Damon promoted the organization's efforts to prevent the trees used for junk mail letters and envelopes from being chopped down. Damon stated: "For an estimated dime a day they can stop 70 per cent of the junk mail that comes to your house. It's very simple, easy to do, great gift to give, I've actually signed up my entire family. It was a gift given to me this past holiday season and I was so impressed that I'm now on the board of the company."[42]
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has often stated near the end of his ABC television show Jimmy Kimmel Live "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time." The line is a gag lampooning instances where shows cannot feature their last guest due to time constraints. On September 12, 2006, after a segment highlighting the running gag and a lengthy introduction by Kimmel, Damon finally appeared on the show, only for Kimmel to apologetically cut his interview and head to credits, as Damon cursed him. It was later determined that the skit was entirely planned by Kimmel and Damon.[46] Kimmel's girlfriend at the time, comedian Sarah Silverman, also used this line at the end of the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.[47] Silverman also aired a clip of her singing a song entitled "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" on January 31, 2008 on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Damon appeared in the song with Silverman and at the end when she is apologizing to Jimmy, Damon interrupts her saying, "Jimmy, we're out of time. Sorry."[48] Kimmel himself later responded by showing a music video in which he announced, through song, that he is "fucking Ben Affleck". The video aired on February 24, 2008 and featured Affleck along with celebrities such as Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Robin Williams, and various others.[49]
I don't think that it's fair, as I said before, that it seems like we have a fighting class in our country that's comprised of people who have to go for either financial reasons, or ... I don't think that that is fair, and if you're gonna send people to war, then that needs to be shared by everybody.[50]
On September 10, 2008 a video was released on YouTube by the Associated Press in which Damon criticized the Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In the interview excerpt he expresses doubt on Palin's readiness to lead in case John McCain does not make it through his first term. Damon refers to it as a "...bad Disney movie... 'I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska here to take on the White House'. It's absurd ... I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. Because she’s gonna have the nuclear codes". He also says "You do the actuarial tables. There's a 1 out of 3 chance that McCain doesn't survive his first term, and it'll be President Palin."[51]
Damon won multiple awards for Good Will Hunting, a film he co-wrote with Ben Affleck. He was nominated for the Academy Award "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and won "Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen".[15][16]
On July 25, 2007, Damon became the 2,343rd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[53] Damon reacted to the award, stating: "A few times in my life I've had these experiences that are just kind of too big to process and this looks like it's going to be one of those times."[54]
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