Matt Damon: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|American actor (born 1970)}} |
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{{Infobox actor |
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| image = MattDamonBU.jpg |
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{{Use American English|date=July 2023}} |
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| imagesize = 200px |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} |
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| caption = Damon promoting ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'', September 2007 |
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{{infobox person |
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| birthdate = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1970|10|8}} |
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| name = Matt Damon |
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| image = MKr347638 Matt Damon (Small Things Like These, Berlinale 2024).jpg |
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| birthplace = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], United States |
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| caption = Damon in 2024 |
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| spouse = Luciana Bozán Barroso (2005–present) |
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| alt = Matt Damon attending the premiere of ''[[The Martian (film)|'The Martian']]'' at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. |
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| occupation = Actor, screenwriter, producer |
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| birth_name = Matthew Paige Damon |
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| yearsactive = 1988–present |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1970|10|8}} |
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| academyawards = '''[[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]]''' <br /> 1997 ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' |
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| birth_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.<!--As per WP:LINKDIRECT and Template:infobox person, birth/death place indicates city, state, then country. No need to spell out "United States; 'U.S.' is fine.--> |
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| goldenglobeawards = '''[[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]''' <br /> 1997 ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' |
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| education = [[Harvard University]] (dropped out) |
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| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|film producer|screenwriter}} |
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| years_active = 1987–present |
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| spouse = {{marriage|Luciana Bozán Barroso<br />|December 9, 2005}} |
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| children = 4 |
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| works = [[Matt Damon filmography|Full list]] |
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| awards = [[List of awards and nominations received by Matt Damon|Full list]] |
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| module = {{listen|embed=yes|type=speech|filename=Matt Damon - The Film Programme - 17 Aug 2007 - b007w3c5.flac|title=Damon's voice|description=from the BBC program ''[[The Film Programme]]'', August 17, 2007}} |
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| signature = Matt Damon Signature.png |
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}} |
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'''Matthew Paige Damon''' (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and [[philanthropist]]. He won the [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]] for his screenwriting in ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', and was nominated for his lead performance in the same film. Since the 1997 film, he has matched up with [[A-list]] actors in mainstream films. |
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'''Matthew Paige Damon''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|eɪ|m|ə|n}} {{respelling|DAY|mən}}; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''[[Forbes]]''{{'}} most [[bankable star]]s in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various [[List of awards and nominations received by Matt Damon|awards and nominations]], including an [[Academy Award]] and two [[Golden Globe Awards]], in addition to nominations for three [[British Academy Film Awards]] and seven [[Primetime Emmy Awards]]. |
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Damon has starred in films such as ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'', ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'', the [[Ocean’s Trilogy|''Ocean's'']] series, [[Bourne (film series)|the ''Bourne'' series]], ''[[Syriana]]'', ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' and ''[[The Departed]]''. He has won multiple awards for his film performances and has received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. Damon is one of the top twenty-five highest grossing actors of all time. In 2007, he was named [[Sexiest Man Alive]] by ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' magazine. |
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Damon made his acting debut in the film ''[[Mystic Pizza]]'' (1988) before gaining prominence in 1997 when he and [[Ben Affleck]] wrote and starred in ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', which won them the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]] and the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay]]. He established himself as a [[leading man]] by starring as [[Tom Ripley]] in ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' (1999), [[Jason Bourne]] in the [[Bourne (franchise)|''Bourne'' franchise]] (2002–2007; 2016), and [[Linus Caldwell]] in [[Ocean's (film series)|the ''Ocean's'' trilogy]] (2001–2007). He received a nomination for an [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Academy Award]] and won the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Golden Globe Award for Best Actor]] for playing an [[astronaut]] stranded on [[Mars]] in ''[[The Martian (film)|The Martian]]'' (2015). He also acted in ''[[The Rainmaker (1997 film)|The Rainmaker]]'' (1997), ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' (1998), ''[[Syriana]]'' (2005), ''[[The Departed]]'' (2006), ''[[The Informant!]]'' (2009), ''[[Invictus (film)|Invictus]]'' (2009), ''[[True Grit (2010 film)|True Grit]]'' (2010), ''[[Contagion (2011 film)|Contagion]]'' (2011), ''[[Ford v Ferrari]]'' (2019), ''[[Stillwater (film)|Stillwater]]'' (2021), ''[[Air (2023 American film)|Air]]'' (2023), and ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]'' (2023), the last of which is his highest-grossing feature. |
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Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the [[ONE Campaign]] and [[H2O Africa Foundation]]. With his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, Damon has two daughters, Isabella and Gia, and stepdaughter Alexia from Barroso's prior marriage. |
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On television, Damon portrayed [[Scott Thorson]] in the [[HBO]] biopic ''[[Behind the Candelabra]]'' (2013), for which he was nominated for a [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie|Primetime Emmy Award]]. He was Emmy-nominated for his guest role in ''[[30 Rock]]'' in 2011 and hosting ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in 2019. He also produced the reality series ''[[Project Greenlight]]'' (2001–2015) as well as the film ''[[Manchester by the Sea (film)|Manchester by the Sea]]'' (2016). Damon has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films as well as established two production companies with Affleck, [[Artists Equity]], and the former, [[Pearl Street Films]]. He has been involved in charitable work with organizations including the [[One Campaign]], [[H2O Africa Foundation]], [[Feeding America]], and [[Water.org]]. |
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==Early life== |
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Damon was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], the son of Kent Telfer Damon, a [[stockbroker]], [[real estate broker|realtor]], and [[Tax preparation|tax preparer]], and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an [[early childhood education]] professor at [[Lesley University]].<ref name="Hollywood01">{{cite web|title=Matt Damon Full Biography|url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Matt_Damon/1239994|accessdate=2007-09-05|publisher=Hollywood.com}}</ref> In an interview with ''Mail on Sunday'', Damon stated that his grandfather is probably the most "impressive person he knows," stating, "He's Finnish, a very proud man, who would never take help from anybody. He came to America when he was a little boy, grew up during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] and sold shoes. He used to tell us the story about getting a raise of three and a half cents, and how that was an incredible moment of success. He's extraordinary."<ref>''Mail on Sunday'', June 10, 2001.</ref> Damon is of [[English people|English]], [[Finns|Finnish]], and [[Scottish people|Scottish]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celebrityshack.com/view/celebrities/male/Matt-Damon/ |title=Matt Damon |publisher=Celebrityshack.com |accessdate=2008-10-24}}</ref> Damon has a brother, Kyle, who is an accomplished [[sculptor]] and artist.<ref name="Animation">{{cite web|publisher=Animation Magazine|title=Matt Damon Animated for Arthur|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/7229|accessdate=2007-09-05}}</ref> He and his family lived in [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] for the first two years of his life, but after his parents divorced, Damon and his brother moved with his mother to Cambridge.<ref name="actingbiz">{{cite web|publisher=ActingBiz|title=Matt Damon|url=http://www.actingbiz.com/actors/matt_damon.php|accessdate=2007-09-09}}</ref> |
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== Early life and education == |
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Damon grew up near [[Ben Affleck]], a close friend since childhood and collaborator on several films, and [[historian]] and author [[Howard Zinn]],<ref name="actingbiz"/><ref name="UnholyAlliance">{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=David|title=Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left|publisher=Regnery Publishing|date=|location=|pages=102 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=azE5qoXTgoAC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=matt+damon+howard+zinn+neighbor&source=web&ots=L-uGfPq5A5&sig=NaQBpDX55Gn7hFB_DEn2i2cSepY#PPA102,M1 |isbn=089526076X}}</ref> whose biographical film ''You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train''<ref name="IMDB">{{cite web|publisher=IMDB.com | title=Biography for Matt Damon| url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000354/bio|accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref> and audio version of ''[[A People's History of the United States]]'' Damon narrated. He attended [[Cambridge Rindge and Latin School]] in Cambridge, and performed in several theater productions.<ref name="AskMen1">{{cite web|publisher=AskMen.com|title=Matt Damon Biography|url=http://www.askmen.com/celebs/men/entertainment/38_matt_damon.html|accessdate=2007-09-05}}</ref> Damon graduated from the school in 1988. He attended [[Harvard University]] from 1988 to 1992 but did not graduate. He instead pursued acting projects, including the [[Turner Network Television|TNT]] original film ''Rising Son'' and ensemble prep-school drama ''[[School Ties]]''.<ref name="actors">Stated in interview on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]''</ref> 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).<ref name="HarvardCrimson">{{cite web|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|title=Ex Show Safe but Satisfying|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=266489|accessdate=2007-09-11}}</ref> 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.<ref name="TisCaliBio">{{cite web|publisher=Tiscali.ca|title=MATT DAMON BIOGRAPHY|url=http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/matt_damon_biog.html|accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> |
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Damon was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], on October 8, 1970,<ref>{{cite news|title=Monitor|newspaper=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=Oct 12–19, 2012|issue=1228/1229|page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/10/08/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-8-Bella-Thorne-Chevy-Chase/4741665185464/ |title=Famous birthdays for Oct. 8: Bella Thorne, Chevy Chase |work=UPI |date=October 8, 2022 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008075151/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/10/08/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-8-Bella-Thorne-Chevy-Chase/4741665185464/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the second son of Kent Telfer Damon (1942–2017), a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige (b. 1946), an early childhood education professor at [[Lesley University]].<ref name="KentReal">{{cite magazine|last=Luscombe|first=Belinda|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=Matt Damon Acts Out|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,36294,00.html|date=December 19, 1999|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235348/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,36294,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LiveCambridge">{{cite news|last=Givens |first=Ron |author2=Michele McPhee |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|title=Two Hollywood Prizefighters 'Hunting' for Stardom Pays Off for Matt Damon |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1998/03/22/1998-03-22_two_hollywood_prizefighters_.html |date=March 22, 1998 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921162214/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1998/03/22/1998-03-22_two_hollywood_prizefighters_.html |archive-date=September 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/23/matt-damon-father-dies-age/1uTaOyDq5Bp7vLHPRncU7O/story.html|title=Matt Damon's father dies at age 74|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=January 29, 2018|archive-date=January 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126182947/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/23/matt-damon-father-dies-age/1uTaOyDq5Bp7vLHPRncU7O/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His father had English and Scottish ancestry, while his mother is of Finnish and Swedish descent; her family surname had been changed from [[Pajari]] to Paige.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-ethnic-groups-in-america-2013-8 |title=The Largest Ancestry Groups in the United States |author1=Liz O'Connor |author2=Gus Lubin |author3=Dina Spector |name-list-style=amp |date=August 13, 2013 |newspaper=Business Insider |access-date=October 2, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006140844/http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-ethnic-groups-in-america-2013-8 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/matt-damon| title=Matt Damon| newspaper=HuffPost| access-date=March 1, 2020| archive-date=August 3, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803211416/https://www.huffpost.com/author/matt-damon| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hometownfocus.us/articles/matt-damon-makes-headlines-in-finland/|title=Matt Damon makes headlines in Finland|work=Hometown Focus|date=May 16, 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107081048/http://www.hometownfocus.us/news/2014-05-16/Features/Matt_Damon_makes_headlines_in_Finland.html|archive-date=November 7, 2014}}</ref> Damon and his family moved to [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] for two years. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and he and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge,<ref name="LiveCambridge"/><ref name="ParentsDivorce">{{cite news|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Matt Damon: A true Hollywood player|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-a-true-hollywood-player-418808.html|date=October 4, 2006|access-date=April 5, 2009|location=London|archive-date=September 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923013833/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-a-true-hollywood-player-418808.html|url-status=live}}</ref> where they lived in a six-family communal house.<ref name="ParadeProfile03">{{cite news|last=Raider |first=Dotson |work=[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]|title="My Goals Have Changed" (Actor Matt Damon) |url=http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2003/edition_11-30-2003/featured_0 |date=November 30, 2003 |access-date=April 21, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110054833/http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2003/edition_11-30-2003/featured_0 |archive-date=January 10, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="NeutralNarrate">{{cite news|last=Crust |first=Kevin |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title='Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train,' 'Hair Show,' 'The Hillside Strangler,' 'The Dust Factory' and 'Stephen King's Riding the Bullet' |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-capsules15oct15,2,1749015.story |date=October 15, 2004 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604162332/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-capsules15oct15%2C2%2C1749015.story |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His brother, Kyle, is a sculptor and artist.<ref name="LiveCambridge"/><ref name="Animation">{{cite news|last=Ball|first=Ryan|work=[[Animation Magazine]]|title=Matt Damon Animated for Arthur|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/7229|date=August 15, 2007|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009070139/http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/matt-damon-animated-for-arthur/|url-status=live|archive-date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> Damon has said that, as a teenager, he had felt lonely, as if he did not belong,<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/> and that his mother's by-the-book approach to child-rearing<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/> had made it hard for him to define his own identity.<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/> |
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Damon attended Cambridge Alternative School and [[Cambridge Rindge and Latin School]], and was a good student.<ref name="WTprofile97"/> He acted in several high-school theater productions,<ref name="LiveCambridge"/> and has credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as having had an important artistic influence on him, although noting wryly that Speca had given [[Ben Affleck]] (Damon's close friend and schoolmate) the "biggest roles and longest speeches".<ref name="WTprofile97">{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=Gary|work=[[The Washington Times]]|title=Boyhood friends are stars on the rise|date=December 26, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--- staff writer, no byline ---> |url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/351 |title=Interview with Matt Damon and Minnie Driver!!! - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news |publisher=Aintitcool.com |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006111744/http://www.aintitcool.com/node/351 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Another neighbor of Damon's was historian and author [[Howard Zinn]],<ref name="UnholyAlliance">{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=David|title=Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left|publisher=Regnery Publishing|year=2004|page=102|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=azE5qoXTgoAC&q=matt+damon+howard+zinn+neighbor&pg=PA102|isbn=0-89526-076-X|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104083828/https://books.google.com/books?id=azE5qoXTgoAC&q=matt+damon+howard+zinn+neighbor&pg=PA102|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 later narrated.<ref name="NeutralNarrate"/>|group="nb"}} He attended [[Harvard University]] as a member of the class of 1992, residing in [[Lowell House]], but left before receiving his degree to take a lead role in the film ''[[Geronimo: An American Legend]]''. While at Harvard, as an exercise for an English class, Damon wrote an essay in the form of a [[film treatment]] which was later developed into the screenplay ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' (for which he received an Academy Award).<ref>[http://cache.boston.com/globe/living/packages/oscars98/titanicwins.html "Oscar joins the family" Irene Sege, ''The Boston Globe'' March 25, 1998] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191551/http://cache.boston.com/globe/living/packages/oscars98/titanicwins.html |date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> At Harvard, Damon was a member of [[Delphic Club|the Delphic Club]], one of the university's elite [[Final Clubs]]. In 2013, he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal.<ref>[http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/04/matt-damon-on-his-craft/ "Matt Damon on His Craft" Colleen Walsh, ''The Harvard Gazette'' April 25, 2013] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926235908/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/04/matt-damon-on-his-craft/ |date=September 26, 2016 }}</ref> |
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==Career== |
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===Early career=== |
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His first film role came in 1988 when he was eighteen, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy ''[[Mystic Pizza]]''.<ref name="People - Bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/matt_damon/biography|title=Matt Damon Biography|accessdate=2008-06-03|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref> Damon appeared in small roles before landing a big part in ''[[Geronimo: An American Legend]]'' with [[Gene Hackman]] and [[Jason Patric]].<ref name="actors"/> He next appeared as a [[heroin]]-addicted soldier in 1996's ''[[Courage Under Fire]]''. He was required to lose {{convert|40|lb|kg}} in 100 days (for only two days of filming).<ref name="Tribute.ca">{{cite web|publisher=Tribute.ca|title=Matt Damon bio: The Bourne Ultimatum Actor|url=http://www.tribute.ca/people/Matt+Damon/1715/13532|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref><ref name="YahooIndia">{{cite web|publisher=YahooIndia|title=Weight loss left Damon feeling like a "wreck"|url=http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/4666/Weight-loss-left-Damon-feeling-like-wreck.html|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> 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.<ref name="People - Bio"/><ref name="YahooIndia"/> |
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== Career == |
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===Breakthrough=== |
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{{see also|Matt Damon filmography}} |
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Damon and [[Ben Affleck]] wrote a screenplay about a young [[math]] [[genius]], which they had pitched around Hollywood. Receiving advice from writer/director/actor [[Rob Reiner]], screenwriter [[William Goldman]], and their friend writer/director [[Kevin Smith (film maker)|Kevin Smith]],<ref name="TisCaliBio"/> the two made changes to the script.<ref name="TisCaliBio"/> The script eventually became ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', and received nine [[Academy Awards]] nominations, earning Damon and Affleck [[Academy Awards|Oscars]] for [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]].<ref name="HPost">{{cite web|title=The Huffington Post|work=Lawrence Bender|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-bender|accessdate=September 10|accessyear=2007}}</ref> Damon was also nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for the same film and the film netted an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Oscar for Best Supporting Actor]] for co-star [[Robin Williams]]. Damon and Affleck were each paid salaries of $500,000; the film grossed over $100 million at the box office. Damon and Affleck parodied their roles in the film in Kevin Smith's ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]''. After meeting Damon on the set of ''Good Will Hunting'', director [[Steven Spielberg]] cast Damon in the [[World War II]] film ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' (1998).<ref name="TisCaliBio"/> |
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Along with Affleck and producers [[Chris Moore (film producer)|Chris Moore]] and Sean Bailey, Damon founded the production company [http://www.liveplanet.com/index.asp LivePlanet], through which the four created the documentary series ''[[Project Greenlight]]'' to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers.<ref name="PGL">{{cite web|work=Project Greenlight|title=About Project Greenlight|url=http://projectgreenlight.liveplanet.com/pgl3/about.asp|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> 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.<ref name="TisCaliBio"/> |
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[[Image:Ocean's11Cast.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Brad Pitt]], [[George Clooney]], Damon, [[Andy Garcia]], [[Julia Roberts]] (the cast of ''[[Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]''), with director [[Steven Soderbergh]] in December 2001]] |
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Damon has been known to choose a wide variety of film roles, from his portrayal of [[bisexual]] murderer [[Tom Ripley]] in ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'',<ref name="People - Bio"/> for which he received a [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] nomination for Best Actor,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/member/29686|title=HFPA - Awards Search|accessdate=2008-06-03|publisher=Golden Globes}}</ref> to a [[fallen angel]] who discusses [[pop culture]] as intellectual subject matter in ''[[Dogma (film)|Dogma]]'', in which he co-starred with Affleck (1999); from a [[conjoined twin]] in ''[[Stuck on You (film)|Stuck on You]],'' to a film he co-wrote with friend [[Casey Affleck]] and [[Gus Van Sant]] with limited dialogue—the low budget experimental film ''[[Gerry (film)|Gerry]]''. Damon has been part of two major film franchises. He played [[amnesia]]c assassin [[Jason Bourne (character)|Jason Bourne]] in the successful action movies ''[[The Bourne Identity (2002 film)|The Bourne Identity]]'', ''[[The Bourne Supremacy (film)|The Bourne Supremacy]]'', and ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'',<ref name="People - Bio"/> and starred as the youthful, optimistic thief Linus Caldwell, opposite [[George Clooney]], [[Brad Pitt]], and [[Julia Roberts]] in [[Steven Soderbergh]]'s 2001 [[Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)|remake]] of the [[Rat Pack]]'s 1960 caper classic ''[[Ocean's Eleven (1960 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]''. The successful crime [[dramedy]] spawned two sequels: ''[[Ocean's Twelve]]'' (2004) and ''[[Ocean's Thirteen]]'' (2007).<ref name="People - Bio"/> |
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Among other roles, Damon played a fictionalized version of [[Wilhelm Grimm]] in [[Terry Gilliam]]'s fantasy adventure ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'' and an [[Energy analysis|energy analyst]] in ''[[Syriana]]''.<ref>{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Clinton|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/26/review.grimm/index.html?iref=newssearch|title=Review: 'Grimm' gorgeous but empty|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2005-08-26|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Lisa|last=Schwarzbaum|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/23/ew.mov.syriana/index.html?iref=newssearch|title=EW review: 'Syriana' lacks humanity|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2005-11-23|publisher=CNN|work=[[Entertainment Weekly|EW]]}}</ref> He was recently onscreen in [[Robert De Niro]]'s ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' as a career [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer, and played an undercover [[mobster]] working for the [[Massachusetts State Police]] in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s Oscar-winning ''[[The Departed]]'', a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller ''[[Infernal Affairs]]''.<ref name="People - Bio"/> He had an uncredited cameo in [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[Youth Without Youth (film)| Youth Without Youth]]'' (released in 2007), a cameo in the 2008 Che Guevara biopic [[Che (film)|Che]], and a supporting role in [[Kenneth Lonergan]]'s film ''[[Margaret (film)|Margaret]]'', due in 2009. |
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=== 1988–1999: Early work and breakthrough === |
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In 2007, rumors stated that producer [[J.J. Abrams]] was trying to get Damon to play [[James T. Kirk]] in the 2009 movie ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]''. In an interview with [[IGN]], Damon denied the claim.<ref name="RTomato">{{cite news | publisher = RottenTomatoes | title = Matt Damon Sets the Star Trek Record Straight | url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_the_motion_picture/news/1655076/ | accessdate = 2007-09-06|quote=Complete internet rumor, is basically what Mr. Damon told IGN Movies while spending time on the Bourne Ultimatum press tour. The actor mentions that Abrams is looking for someone in his early 20s.}}</ref> |
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Damon entered [[Harvard]] in 1988,<ref>"[http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/08/oscar-winner-matt-damon-on-his-harvard-years/ Oscar winner Matt Damon on his Harvard years] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926215115/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/08/oscar-winner-matt-damon-on-his-harvard-years/ |date=September 26, 2016 }}", [[Harvard Gazette]], August 6, 2013</ref>{{#tag:ref|He lived in Matthews Hall and then [[Lowell House]]<ref name="Harvard1992">{{cite news|last=McGrath|first=Charles|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=6 Degrees of Harvard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/weekinreview/01mcgrath.html?scp=1&sq=matt%20damon%20harvard%201992&st=cse|date=October 1, 2006 |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510060758/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/weekinreview/01mcgrath.html?scp=1&sq=matt%20damon%20harvard%201992&st=cse|url-status=live}}</ref>|group="nb"}} where he appeared in student theater plays, such as ''[[Burn This]]'' and ''A... My Name is Alice''.<ref name="Chainani">{{cite web|last=Chainani|first=Soman S.|work=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|title=Matt Damon On Life, Acting and Harvard|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/12/12/matt-damon-on-life-acting-and/|access-date=April 21, 2010|archive-date=November 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119132343/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/12/12/matt-damon-on-life-acting-and/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="HarvardCrimson">{{cite news|last=Siegler|first=Elijah|work=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|title=Ex Show Safe but Satisfying|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1990/11/2/ex-show-safe-but-satisfying-piamy/|date=November 2, 1990|access-date=October 11, 2013|archive-date=October 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012014152/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1990/11/2/ex-show-safe-but-satisfying-piamy/|url-status=live}}</ref> Later, he made his film debut at the age of 18, with a single line of dialogue in the [[romantic comedy]] ''[[Mystic Pizza]]''.<ref name="People - Bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/matt_damon/biography|title=Matt Damon Biography|access-date=April 5, 2009|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|archive-date=February 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203011048/http://www.people.com/people/matt_damon/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> As a student at Harvard, he acted in small roles such as in the [[Turner Network Television|TNT]] original film ''Rising Son'' and the ensemble prep-school drama ''[[School Ties]]''.<ref name="actors">{{citation | url=http://www.bravotv.com/inside-the-actors-studio/season-13/videos/matt-damon | title=Matt Damon - Season 13, Episode 3 | work=[[Inside the Actors Studio]] | publisher=Bravo TV | date=January 8, 2007 | access-date=October 3, 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121451/http://www.bravotv.com/inside-the-actors-studio/season-13/videos/matt-damon | url-status=live }}</ref> He left the school in 1992, a semester (12 credits) shy of completing his Bachelor of Arts in English to feature in ''Geronimo: An American Legend''<ref name="Chainani" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Oscars/matt-damon-stars/story?id=9957289|title=Matt Damon: Before They Were Stars|work=ABC News|first=Jennifer|last=Joseph|date=March 1, 2010|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=August 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803203839/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Oscars/matt-damon-stars/story?id=9957289|url-status=live}}</ref> in Los Angeles, erroneously expecting the movie to become a big success.<ref name="Chainani" />{{#tag:ref|"By the time I figured out I had made the wrong decision, it was too late. I was living out here with a bunch of actors, and we were all scrambling to make ends meet," he has said.<ref>{{cite news|last=Koltnow|first=Barry |work=The Orange County Register|title=Looking for Mr. 'Good' Guy|date=December 5, 1999}}</ref>|group="nb"}} Damon next appeared as an [[opiate]]-addicted soldier in 1996's ''[[Courage Under Fire]]'', for which he lost {{convert|40|lb|kg}} in 100 days<ref name="People - Bio"/><ref name="EW40lbs">{{cite magazine|last=Greenblatt|first=Leah|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Actorexia: A Brief History|url=https://ew.com/article/2007/10/01/who-else-emile-hirsch-wild/|date=September 21, 2007|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=February 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217162243/https://ew.com/article/2007/10/01/who-else-emile-hirsch-wild/|url-status=live}}</ref> on a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen. ''Courage Under Fire'' gained him critical notice, when ''[[The Washington Post]]'' labeled his performance "impressive".<ref>{{cite news|last=Kempley|first=Rita|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Hand-to-Heart Combat|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/courageunderfirekemp.htm|date=November 8, 1998|access-date=April 21, 2010|archive-date=November 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110122716/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/courageunderfirekemp.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Box office performance=== |
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In motion pictures that feature him as a leading actor or supporting co-star, his films have grossed a total of US$1.92<ref name="BOMlist">{{cite web|publisher=Box Office Mojo|title=PEOPLE INDEX| url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/?view=Actor&sort=sumgross&p=.htm|accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> to US$2.28 [[1,000,000,000 (number)|billion]]<ref name="The Numbers">{{cite web | publisher=The Numbers | title=All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box Office|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/ | accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> (based on counting his roles as strictly lead or including supporting roles) at the North American box office, placing him in the top twenty-five grossing actors of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-boxoffice-banker-how-matt-damon-became-hollywoods-leading-man-460666.html|title=A box-office banker: How Matt Damon became Hollywood's leading man|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2007-08-08|publisher=Independent}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite web | publisher = Forbes | title = Ultimate Star Payback | url = http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/03/celebrities-hollywood-movies-biz-cz_dp_0806starpayback.html | accessdate = 2007-09-10}}</ref> |
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[[File:Matt Damon 1999.jpg|thumb|upright|Damon during filming for ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' in 1999]] |
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===Upcoming films=== |
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Damon's projects include five films that are expected to debut in 2009, including his portrayal of Mr. Aaron in the drama ''[[Margaret (film)|Margaret]]''. He began filming ''[[Green Zone (film)| Green Zone]]'' in January 2008, and commenced filming Steven Soderbergh's thriller, ''[[The Informant (2009 film)| The Informant]]'', in Central Illinois on May 3, 2008. On June 27, 2008, producer Frank Marshall announced that a fourth Jason Bourne movie was expected to be made, with filming expected in the summer of 2009 for a release in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/25/jason-bourne-goes-to-south-america/|title=Jason Bourne Goes to South America?|accessdate=2008-06-28|date=2008-06-28|publisher=Slash Film}}</ref> Damon will provide a voice for the upcoming film ''[[Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea]]'', although the specific role is as yet unknown.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/27/hayaomiyazaki |title=English-language cast announced for Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff|publisher=guardian.co.uk| accessdate=2008-11-30|date=2008-11-27}}</ref> |
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During the early 1990s, [[Ben Affleck and Matt Damon|Damon and Affleck]] wrote ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' (1997), a screenplay about a young mathematics genius, an extension of a screenplay he wrote for an assignment at Harvard, having integrated advice from director [[Rob Reiner]], screenwriter [[William Goldman]], and writer/director [[Kevin Smith]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ben-affleck-birthday_n_3750655| title=Ben Affleck's 41st Birthday Recalls Actor's Early Roles, Surprising Hobbies And Political Activism| work=HuffPost | date=August 15, 2013 |author=Matthew Jacobs | access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007055630/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/ben-affleck-birthday_n_3750655.html| url-status=live |archive-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref> He asked Affleck to perform the scenes with him in front of the class and, when Damon later moved into Affleck's Los Angeles apartment, they began working on the script more seriously.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sischy |first=Ingrid |title=New Again: Ben Affleck |url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/new-again-ben-affleck/ |work=[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]] |access-date=May 10, 2018 |date=April 16, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619233859/http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/new-again-ben-affleck/ |archive-date=June 19, 2017 }}</ref> The film, which they wrote mainly during improvisation sessions, was set partly in their hometown of Cambridge, and drew from their own experiences.<ref name="bostonmag-history">{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2013/01/good-will-hunting-oral-history/ |title=Good Will Hunting: An Oral History |first=Janelle |last=Nanos |work=Boston Magazine |date=January 2013 |access-date=June 5, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715034905/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2013/01/good-will-hunting-oral-history/ |archive-date=July 15, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Shone|first=Tom|title=The Double Life of Matt Damon|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-double-life-of-matt-damon-9mspqql8h8j|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=May 10, 2018|date=February 26, 2011|archive-date=October 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005071754/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-double-life-of-matt-damon-9mspqql8h8j|url-status=live}}</ref> They sold the screenplay to [[Castle Rock Entertainment|Castle Rock]] in 1994, but after a conflict with the company, they convinced [[Miramax]] to purchase the script.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4720603/Good-Will-Hunting-the-truth.html |last=Goldman |first=William |title=Good Will Hunting: the Truth |work=The Telegraph |date=May 2, 2000 |access-date=May 12, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151342/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4720603/Good-Will-Hunting-the-truth.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="highbeam1">{{cite news|url=https://business.highbeam.com/137462/article-1G1-57790090/playboy-interview-ben-affleck-candid-conversation-hot|title=Playboy Interview: Ben Affleck|last=Weinraub|first=Bernard|date=December 1, 1999|work=[[Playboy]]|access-date=May 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703192630/https://business.highbeam.com/137462/article-1G1-57790090/playboy-interview-ben-affleck-candid-conversation-hot|archive-date=July 3, 2017|url-status=dead|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> The film received critical praise; Quentin Curtis of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' found "real wit and vigour, and some depth" in their writing and Emanuel Levy of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that Damon "gives a charismatic performance in a demanding role that's bound to catapult him to stardom. Perfectly cast, he makes the aching, step-by-step transformation of Will realistic and credible."<ref>{{cite news|last=Curtis|first=Quentin|title=Good Will Hunting, review: 'Robin Williams brings off sharpness and tenderness'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11035949/Good-Will-Hunting-review-Robin-Williams-brings-off-sharpness-and-tenderness.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11035949/Good-Will-Hunting-review-Robin-Williams-brings-off-sharpness-and-tenderness.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=August 15, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Emanuel|title=Good Will Hunting|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/good-will-hunting-3-1200452429/|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=Variety|date=November 30, 1997|archive-date=December 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226120724/http://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/good-will-hunting-3-1200452429/|url-status=live}}</ref> It received nine [[Academy Awards]] nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] for Damon; he and Affleck won the [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Oscar]] and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay]].<ref name="Hartford9Nominations">{{cite news|author=Amy Wallace|author2=Robert W. Welkos|author3=Susan King|title='Titanic' Ties Record for Oscar Nominations|work=[[The Hartford Courant]]|url=http://www.courant.com/topic/cl-env-1998oscarnoms,0,2173092.story?page=1|date=February 11, 1998|access-date=April 5, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922033106/http://www.courant.com/topic/cl-env-1998oscarnoms,0,2173092.story?page=1|archive-date=September 22, 2009}}<br />{{cite news|last=Waxman|first=Sharon|author2=William Booth|title='Titanic's' 11 Oscars Ties Record; Night 'Good' for Nicholson, Hunt|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/oscars/oscars98.htm|date=March 23, 1998|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=November 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110065806/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/oscars/oscars98.htm|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web | url=http://www.eonline.com/news/584691/ben-affleck-s-most-awkward-smiles-see-that-one-in-gone-girl-and-9-from-real-life | title=Ben Affleck's Most Awkward Smiles | publisher=E! Entertainment | author=Corrine Heller | date=October 2, 2014 | access-date=October 3, 2014 | archive-date=October 3, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003192653/http://www.eonline.com/news/584691/ben-affleck-s-most-awkward-smiles-see-that-one-in-gone-girl-and-9-from-real-life | url-status=live }}</ref> He and Affleck were each paid salaries of $600,000, while the film grossed over $225 million at the worldwide box office.<ref name="bomojo"/><ref name="BioChannel$500K">{{cite web|publisher=[[The Biography Channel]] |title=Matt Damon |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/1685:2046/1/Matt_Damon.htm |access-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918010053/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/1685%3A2046/1/Matt_Damon.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2009 }}</ref> The two later parodied their roles from the film in Kevin Smith's 2001 movie ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/gallery/perfect-casting-stars-screen-themselves/ | title=Perfect Casting: Stars on Screen as Themselves | date=June 12, 2013 | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | access-date=March 1, 2020 | archive-date=August 3, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803183932/https://ew.com/gallery/perfect-casting-stars-screen-themselves/ | url-status=live }}</ref> |
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He will be playing rugby team captain [[Francois Pienaar]] in the [[Clint Eastwood]] directed [[Nelson Mandela]] bio-pic ''The Human Factor'', a film based on a 2008 book by John Carlin, and also featuring [[Morgan Freeman]] as Mandela. Carlin sold the film rights to Morgan Freeman.<ref>Keller, Bill. "Entering the Scrum". ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]''. August 17, 2008.</ref> |
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Speaking of his "overnight success" through ''Good Will Hunting'', Damon said by that time he had been working in the cinema for 11 years, but still found the change "nearly indescribable—going from total obscurity to walking down a street in New York and having everybody turn and look".<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldman|first=Steven|title=Interview: Matt Damon|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/aug/10/1|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=The Guardian|date=August 9, 2007|archive-date=August 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812040939/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/aug/10/1|url-status=live}}</ref> Before the film, Damon played the lead in the critically acclaimed drama ''[[The Rainmaker (1997 film)|The Rainmaker]]'' (1997), where he was recognized by the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' as "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom."<ref>{{cite web |first=Jack |last=Matthews |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie980106-50,0,962161.story |title=John Grisham's The Rainmaker |access-date=April 21, 2010 |date=November 21, 1997 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100628142930/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie980106-50,0,962161.story |archive-date=June 28, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For the role, Damon regained most of the weight he had lost for ''Courage Under Fire''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Geier|first=Thom|title=The Evolution of Matt Damon (Photos)|url=https://www.thewrap.com/the-evolution-of-matt-damon-from-mystic-pizza-to-jason-bourne-photos/|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=TheWrap|date=December 22, 2017|archive-date=May 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513080836/https://www.thewrap.com/the-evolution-of-matt-damon-from-mystic-pizza-to-jason-bourne-photos/|url-status=live}}</ref> After meeting Damon on the set of ''Good Will Hunting'', director [[Steven Spielberg]] cast him in the brief title role in the 1998 [[World War II]] film ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-damon-playing-private-ryan/ | title=Matt Damon: Playing Private Ryan | author=CBS News Staff | date=July 23, 1998 | work=CBS News | access-date=October 3, 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104800/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-damon-playing-private-ryan/ | url-status=live }}</ref> He co-starred with [[Edward Norton]] in the 1998 poker film ''[[Rounders (film)|Rounders]]'', where he plays a reformed gambler in law school who must return to playing high-stakes [[poker]] to help a friend pay off [[loan shark]]s. Despite meager earnings at the box-office, it is considered one of the best poker movies of all time.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rosen|first1=Christopher|title='Rounders' Turns 15: Matt Damon Poker Movie Splashed The Pot On Sept. 11, 1998|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rounders-15th-anniversary_n_3902343|access-date=March 1, 2020|work=HuffPost|date=September 11, 2013|archive-date=August 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803185134/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rounders-15th-anniversary_n_3902343|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
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Damon has had relationships with several actresses throughout his career. Damon had a two-year relationship with actress [[Winona Ryder]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://archive.salon.com/people/col/reit/2000/04/26/np_wed/index.html | title = Rearview window | publisher = Salon.com | date = 2000-04-26 | first = Amy | last = Reiter}}</ref> He also dated Odessa Whitmire, who has worked as a personal assistant for [[Billy Bob Thornton]] and [[Ben Affleck]], from 2001 to 2003.<ref name="IMDBOW">{{cite web|publisher=IMDB|title=Matt Damon Has New Girlfriend|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926208/news|accessdate=2007-09-26}}</ref> His relationship with ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' co-star [[Minnie Driver]] reportedly ended when Damon announced their break-up on ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'', though both actors have repeatedly denied this. Damon later stated that he was "sick and tired" of hearing the story, saying it was false. Driver's sister allegedly told ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' that the couple had broken up before the show was taped.<ref name="FortuneC">{{cite web|publisher=FortuneCity.com|title=Answers to commonly asked questions|url=http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/fullmonty/282/faq.html/|accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref> Although the media often claimed Damon dated actress [[Eva Mendes]], both have denied any relationship.<ref name="Female1">{{cite web|publisher=FemaleFirst.co.uk|title=Eva Mendes Slams Matt Damon Rumour|url=http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Eva+Mendes-3310.html|accessdate=2007-09-12}}</ref><ref name="Foxnews2">{{cite web|publisher=FOXNews.com|title=Eva Mendes and Matt Damon: Just Friends|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,109470,00.html|accessdate=2007-09-12}}</ref> |
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Damon then portrayed antihero [[Tom Ripley]] in ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' (1999), a role for which he lost {{convert|25|lb|disp=flip}}. Damon said that he wanted to display his character's humanity and honesty on screen despite his criminal actions.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Johnston|first1=Sheila|title=Interview: Matt Damon: The talented Mr Damon tries on the Emperor's|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/interview-matt-damon-the-talented-mr-damon-tries-on-the-emperors-new-clothes-for-size-1183460.html|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=The Independent|date=November 8, 1998|archive-date=May 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513011303/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/interview-matt-damon-the-talented-mr-damon-tries-on-the-emperors-new-clothes-for-size-1183460.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An adaptation of [[Patricia Highsmith]]'s 1955 [[The Talented Mr. Ripley|novel of same name]], the film costarred [[Jude Law]], [[Gwyneth Paltrow]], and [[Cate Blanchett]], and received praise from critics.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Talented Mr. Ripley|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/talented_mr_ripley|website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=December 25, 1999 |access-date=April 10, 2018|archive-date=November 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171127044634/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/talented_mr_ripley/|url-status=live}}</ref> "Damon outstandingly conveys his character's slide from innocent enthusiasm into cold calculation", according to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/the-talented-mr-ripley-2-1200460048/|title=The Talented Mr. Ripley|access-date=April 21, 2010|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Todd|last=McCarthy|date=December 13, 1999|archive-date=January 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101012254/http://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/the-talented-mr-ripley-2-1200460048/|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[[Dogma (film)|Dogma]]'' (1999), he played a [[fallen angel]] who discusses [[popular culture|pop culture]] as intellectual subject matter with Affleck's character.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9507E4D81E3EF937A35753C1A96F958260 | title=Dogma (1999) Movie Review | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=October 4, 1999 |first=Janet |last=Maslin | author-link=Janet Maslin |url-access=subscription | access-date=October 4, 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006184448/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9507E4D81E3EF937A35753C1A96F958260 | url-status=live }}</ref> The film received generally positive reviews, but proved controversial among religious groups who deemed it blasphemous.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Caro|first1=Mark|title=A Practicing Catholic On The Religious Storm Of 'Dogma'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/11/07/a-practicing-catholic-on-the-religious-storm-of-dogma/|access-date=May 12, 2018|work=The Chicago Tribune|date=November 7, 1999|archive-date=February 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225104356/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-11-07/news/9911070455_1_jason-mewes-and-smith-dogma-catholic-league|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Damon met [[Argentina|Argentine]]-born Luciana Bozan Barroso in [[Miami]], where she was working as a [[bartender]].<ref name="GlenP">{{cite web|publisher=GlenPower.com|title=Quietest Celebrity Wedding - Matt Damon and Luciana Bozan Barroso|url=http://www.glenpower.com/Quietest-Celebrity-Wedding.html|accessdate=2007-09-06}}</ref> They married in a private [[civil ceremony]] on December 9, 2005, at the [[Manhattan Marriage Bureau]] near [[New York City Hall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-12-09-damon-wedding_x.htm|title=Matt Damon, fiancee wed|quote=Matt Damon married girlfriend Luciana Bozan in a private ceremony Friday in New York City, his publicist said|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2005-12-09|work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> Damon became stepfather to Bozan's young daughter, Alexia, from her previous marriage. The couple's first child together, daughter Isabella, was born on June 11, 2006, in [[Miami]], [[Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|authors=From staff and wire reports|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/06/12/showbuzz/index.html?iref=newssearch|title=Matt Damon's a daddy|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2006-06-12|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> On August 20, 2008, Luciana gave birth to the couple's second child, Gia Zavala Damon.<ref name="GIABirth">{{cite news|author=[[Associated Press]]|url=http://www.topix.com/city/potsdam-ny/2008/08/matt-damons-wife-luciana-gives-birth-to-girl |title=Matt Damon's wife Luciana gives birth to girl|publisher=Associated Press|date=2008-08-20|accessdate=2008-08-20}}</ref> Damon describes himself as an overly cautious father: "At my house they have a nickname for me. They call me Red Alert. If any of the kids go near anything dangerous, I quickly say, 'Is she touching that? Watch out for that!'"<ref>"Matt Damon: Cautious Dad." ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'', Vol. 70, No. 12, September 22, 2008, pg. 28.</ref> |
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=== 2000–2008: Worldwide recognition === |
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[[Image:Matt Damon handprints.jpg|thumb|Handprints and footprints of Damon in front of the [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]]]] |
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In 2000, Damon, Affleck, and producers [[Chris Moore (film producer)|Chris Moore]] and [[Sean Bailey]] founded the production company [[LivePlanet]] to create the [[Emmy]]-nominated documentary series ''[[Project Greenlight]],'' which aimed to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers.<ref name="PPGreenlight">{{cite news |date=August 12, 2002 |title='Greenlight' gets green light |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-greenlight-get/157909731/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |page=D-8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.emmys.com/shows/project-greenlight | title=Project Greenlight | publisher=Emmys | access-date=October 4, 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006210320/http://www.emmys.com/shows/project-greenlight | url-status=live }}</ref> Among the company's projects was the short-lived mystery-hybrid series ''[[Push, Nevada]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Push, Nevada' deserves a push |newspaper=Saint Paul Pioneer Press |location=St. Paul, Minnesota | publisher=McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |via=[[HighBeam Research]] | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120209355.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323022034/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-120209355.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 23, 2015 |date=August 26, 2002 | access-date=October 4, 2014 }}</ref> |
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Comedian [[Jimmy Kimmel]] often says: "Our apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time" near the end of his [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television show ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live]]'', 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. Kimmel later asserted to ''[[USA Weekend]]'' that the skit was entirely planned and Damon willingly played along.<ref name="USAW">{{cite web|publisher=USAWeekend.com|title=Who's News|url=http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/061217/061217whosnews.html|accessdate=September 1|accessyear=2007}}</ref> Kimmel's girlfriend, comedian [[Sarah Silverman]], also used this line at the end of the [[2007 MTV Movie Awards]].<ref name="YahooMTVMA">{{cite web|title=MTV Movie Awards Recap: A Night Full of Edgy|url=http://mtvmovieawards.yahoo.com/news/MTVMovieAwardsRecapANightFullofEdgy/29|accessdate=2008-01-29}}</ref> This gag was also used again when [[Guillermo Díaz (Jimmy Kimmel Live)|Guillermo]] interviewed Damon at the ''Ocean's Thirteen'' premiere, with Damon asking "Are you with Kimmel?"<ref name="IMDB JKL">{{imdb title|id=1048570|title=Jimmy Kimmel Live!}} Episode June 5, 2007|accessdate=2008-01-15}}</ref> 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."<ref name="PeopleSarahMatt">{{cite news|last=Jordan|first=Julie|title=Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]| date=2008-02-02|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20175789,00.html|accessdate=2008-02-03}}</ref> 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 [[Brad Pitt]], [[Harrison Ford]], [[Cameron Diaz]], [[Joan Jett]], [[Macy Gray]], [[Robin Williams]], [[Don Cheadle]], [[Pete Wentz]], [[Perry Farrell]], [[Benji Madden|Benji]] and [[Joel Madden]], [[Lance Bass]], [[Huey Lewis]], [[Josh Groban]], [[Christopher Mintz-Plasse]], [[Christina Applegate]], [[Rebecca Romijn]], [[Dominic Monaghan]], [[Meat Loaf]] and various others. |
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[[File:Matt Damon 2001.jpg|thumb|upright|Damon in 2001]] |
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Among Damon's interests include his support of the [[Boston Red Sox]].<ref name="MattRedSox">{{cite news|last=Edes|first=Gordon|title=Loyalty not an act for this Red Sox fan|work=[[The Boston Globe|Boston Globe]]| date=2007-11-27|url=http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/11/27/loyalty_not_an_act_for_this_red_sox_fan/|accessdate=2008-02-03}}</ref> |
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Damon's attempts at leading characters in romantic dramas such as 2000's ''[[All the Pretty Horses (film)|All the Pretty Horses]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Bagger Vance]]'' were commercially and critically unsuccessful.<ref name="bomojo"/> ''Variety'' said of his work in ''All the Pretty Horses'': "[Damon] just doesn't quite seem like a young man who's spent his life amidst the dust and dung of a Texas cattle ranch. Nor does he strike any sparks with [[Penélope Cruz|[Penelope] Cruz]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/all-the-pretty-horses-2-1200465856/|title=All the Pretty Horses|access-date=March 1, 2020|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Todd|last=McCarthy|date=December 13, 2000|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235345/https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/all-the-pretty-horses-2-1200465856/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was similarly deemed "uncomfortable being the center" of [[Robert Redford]]'s ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' by Peter Rainer of ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web|author=Rainer, Peter|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/4029/|title=Par for the Course|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=November 13, 2000 |access-date=August 11, 2018|archive-date=August 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811163004/http://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/4029/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Philanthropy=== |
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Damon, along with frequent co-stars [[George Clooney]] and [[Brad Pitt]], supports [[ONE Campaign|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.<ref name="OneXOne">{{cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20070914/damon_charity_070914/20070914/?hub=SpecialEvent2&subhub=PrintStory|title=T.O. benefit gala hosted by Matt Damon raises $1M|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2007-09-17|publisher=CTV}}</ref><ref>http://www.onexone.org/</ref> |
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During this period, Damon joined two lucrative film series—''[[Ocean's Trilogy]]'' (2001–2007) and ''[[Bourne (film series)|Bourne]]'' (2002–2016)—and produced the television series ''[[Project Greenlight]]'' (2001–2005, 2015). He co-starred as thief Linus Caldwell in the former's first installment, [[Steven Soderbergh]]'s 2001 ensemble film ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]'', a remake of the [[Rat Pack]]'s ''[[Ocean's 11]]'' (1960).<ref name="People - Bio"/> The role was originally meant for [[Mark Wahlberg]], who refused it in favor of other projects.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hines|first1=Ree|title=Wahlberg disses Clooney's 'Ocean's' films|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/wahlberg-disses-clooney-s-ocean-s-films-wbna25200092|access-date=May 13, 2018|work=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]|date=June 17, 2008|archive-date=May 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514065013/https://www.today.com/popculture/wahlberg-disses-clooney-s-ocean-s-films-wbna25200092|url-status=live}}</ref> The film grossed $450 million on a budget of $83 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ocean's Eleven (2001)|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=oceanseleven.htm|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=May 13, 2018|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520115811/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=oceanseleven.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon, alongside Affleck and others, produced the documentary series ''Project Greenlight'', aired on [[HBO]] and later [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]], which helped newcomers develop their first film. The series was nominated for the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program]] in 2002, 2004, and 2005.<ref>{{cite news|first=Louise A. |last=Barile |url=https://people.com/celebrity/ben-matt-to-give-second-greenlight/|title=Ben & Matt To Give Second 'Greenlight' |access-date=March 1, 2020|date=August 21, 2002 |work=People |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417034733/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C624578%2C00.html |archive-date=April 17, 2008 }}</ref> Damon later said that he and Affleck felt proud that the show helped launch the careers of several directors; Damon later served as the executive producer of a number of projects directed by the winners of the show.<ref name="THR">{{cite news|last1=Ng|first1=Philiana|title=HBO Reviving 'Project Greenlight' With Ben Affleck, Matt Damon|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-reviving-project-greenlight-ben-700165|access-date=May 13, 2018|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 30, 2014|archive-date=October 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012072006/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-reviving-project-greenlight-ben-700165|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Damon is a board member of GreenDimes.com, a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day.<ref name="GreenDimes">{{cite web|title=GreenDimes.com|work=Green Dimes|url=http://www.greendimes.com/|accessdate=September 1|accessyear=2007}}</ref><ref name="Oprah">{{cite web|publisher=Oprah.com|title=Matt Damon's Crusade to Stop Junk Mail|url=http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/oprahshow1_ss_20070420/6|accessdate=September 1|accessyear=2007}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2007-04/23/content_857704.htm|title=Matt Damon goes green with GreenDimes.com|accessdate=2008-06-05|date=2007-04-23|work=China Daily}}</ref> |
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Damon began 2002 with writing and starring in ''[[Gerry (2002 film)|Gerry]]'', a drama about two friends who forget to bring water and food when they go hiking in a desert. The reviews for the film were generally positive, but it was a box-office failure.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gerry (2002)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gerry/|website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=February 14, 2003 |access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-date=November 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129211537/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gerry/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bourne">{{cite news|last=Hiscock|first=John|title=Matt Damon on marriage, gun control, and why Hollywood thought The Bourne Identity would flop|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/07/25/matt-damon-on-marriage-gun-control-and-why-hollywood-thought-the/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/07/25/matt-damon-on-marriage-gun-control-and-why-hollywood-thought-the/ |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=May 18, 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=July 25, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He then played [[amnesia]]c assassin [[Jason Bourne]] in [[Doug Liman]]'s action thriller ''[[The Bourne Identity (2002 film)|The Bourne Identity]]'' (2002). Liman considered several actors for the role before he cast Damon.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hanrahan|first1=Denise|title=BBC - Films - interview - Doug Liman|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/09/05/doug_liman_the_bourne_identity_interview.shtml|access-date=May 18, 2018|work=BBC|archive-date=January 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109151909/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/09/05/doug_liman_the_bourne_identity_interview.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon insisted on performing many of the stunts himself, undergoing three months of extensive training in stunt work, the use of weapons, boxing, and [[eskrima]].<ref name="DVDDocumentary">'The Birth of the Bourne Identity' DVD Making of Documentary (2003).</ref> Damon said that before ''The Bourne Identity'' he was jobless for six months, and many of his films during that period under-performed at the box-office. He doubted the film's financial prospects, but it proved a commercial success.<ref name="bourne"/> Reviews for the film were also positive;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bourne Identity (2002)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bourne_identity|website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=June 14, 2002 |access-date=May 18, 2018|archive-date=May 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521040949/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bourne_identity|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] praised it for its ability to absorb the viewer in its "spycraft" and "Damon's ability to be focused and sincere".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ebert|first1=Roger|title=The Bourne Identity Movie Review (2002)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-bourne-identity-2002|access-date=May 18, 2018|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=June 17, 2002|archive-date=May 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519033039/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-bourne-identity-2002|url-status=live}}</ref> For his role, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' named Damon among "the decade's best mixer of brawn and brains."<ref>{{cite magazine|author1=Thom Geier |author2=Jeff Jensen |author3=Tina Jordan |display-authors=etal |date=December 11, 2009|title=The 100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music Videos, And Trends That Entertained Us Over The Past 10 Years|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|page=(1079/1080):74–84}}</ref> |
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Damon, along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, [[Don Cheadle]], and [[Jerry Weintraub]], is one of the founders of [[Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond|Not On Our Watch]], an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in [[Darfur conflict|Darfur]].<ref name="NOT">{{cite web|publisher=NotOurWatchProject.org|title=Not On Our Watch|url=http://notonourwatchproject.org/|accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref> He is also the founder of [[H2O Africa Foundation]], the charitable arm of the ''[[Running the Sahara]]'' expedition.<ref name="TisCaliBio"/><ref name="H20">{{cite web|publisher=GWC.org|title=Actor Matt Damon aims to create public awareness of the water crisis with H20 Africa|url=http://www.globalwaterchallenge.org/resources/story-9.php |accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref> |
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[[File:MattDamonBU.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Damon attending an event for ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'' in 2007]] |
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===Political views=== |
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Damon appeared on ''[[Hardball with Chris Matthews]]'' in December 2006 and discussed the ongoing [[war in Iraq]]. Responding to [[Chris Matthews]], Damon stated: "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."<ref name="OYE">{{cite web|publisher=OperationYellowElephant|title=Matt Damon Joins Operation Yellow Elephant|url=http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/2006/12/matt-damon-joins-operation-yellow.html|accessdate=September 8|accessyear=2007}}</ref> |
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Damon voiced the role of Spirit in the animated film ''[[Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron]]'' (2002) and later played a [[conjoined twin]] in ''[[Stuck on You (film)|Stuck on You]]'' (2003), which received a mixed critical reception.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stuck_on_you/|title=Stuck on You reviews|access-date=April 21, 2010|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|date=December 12, 2003 |archive-date=April 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407230454/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stuck_on_you/|url-status=live}}</ref> His major releases in 2004 included starring roles in the sequels ''[[The Bourne Supremacy (film)|The Bourne Supremacy]]'' and ''[[Ocean's Twelve]]''. Both films earned more than $280 million at the box-office.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bourne Supremacy (2004) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bournesupremacy.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=August 17, 2018 |archive-date=July 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706071530/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bournesupremacy.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ocean's Twelve (2004) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Oceans-Twelve#tab=summary |publisher=The Numbers |access-date=August 17, 2018 |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613015008/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Oceans-Twelve#tab=summary |url-status=live }}</ref> In a review for ''The Bourne Supremacy'', [[BBC]]'s Nev Pierce called the film "a brisk, engrossing and intelligent thriller", adding, "Damon is one hell of an action hero. He does a lot with very little, imbuing his limited dialogue with both rage and sorrow, looking harder and more haunted as the picture progresses".<ref>{{cite web |last=Pierce |first=Nev |title=BBC Gloucestershire Films - The Bourne Supremacy Review |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/films/reviews/a_f/bourne_supremacy.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=August 17, 2018 |date=August 12, 2004 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818100942/http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/films/reviews/a_f/bourne_supremacy.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> For the film, he earned an [[Empire Award for Best Actor]]; the award's presenter ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' attributed Damon's win to his "astute, underplayed performance, through which he totally eschews movie star vanity".<ref>{{cite news |title=Winners Best Actor |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards2005/winners/actor.asp |access-date=August 17, 2018 |work=Empire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021031426/http://www.empireonline.com/awards2005/winners/actor.asp |archive-date=October 21, 2012}}</ref> He played a fictionalized version of [[Wilhelm Grimm]] alongside [[Heath Ledger]] in [[Terry Gilliam]]'s fantasy adventure ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'' (2005), which was a critically panned commercial failure;<ref name="bomojo"/> ''The Washington Post'' concluded, "Damon, constantly flashing his newscaster's teeth and flaunting a fake, '[[Masterpiece Theatre]]' dialect, comes across like someone who got lost on the way to an audition for a high school production of ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]''."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/08/26/a-disappointingly-grimm-tale/ebd09935-5802-4212-b474-1d3080405c7b/|title=A Disappointingly 'Grimm' Tale|access-date=March 1, 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Michael|last=O'Sullivan|date=August 26, 2005|archive-date=March 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302001431/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/08/26/a-disappointingly-grimm-tale/ebd09935-5802-4212-b474-1d3080405c7b/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On September 10, 2008 a video was released on [[YouTube]] by the [[Associated Press]] in which Matt Damon criticizes the Republican Vice President choice [[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 states that "You do the [[life table|actuarial tables]]. There's a 1 out of 3 chance that McCain doesn't survive his first term, and it'll be President Palin."<ref>According to Politico.com, actuarial tables indicate that there is "roughly (a) 1 in 3 chance that a 72-year-old man will not reach the age of 80, which is how old McCain would be at the end of a second presidential term. And that doesn’t factor in individual medical history, such as McCain’s battles with potentially lethal skin cancer." The essay continues, "For a man, that’s above the expected lifetime at the present,” said [[Michael R. Powers|Michael Powers]], a professor of risk management and insurance at [[Temple University]]’s [[Fox School of Business]]. {{cite web|url=http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=253B8DF9-18FE-70B2-A8961A86DC5B16C7 |title=McCain and the politics of mortality |publisher=Dyn.politico.com |first=Alexander |last=Burns |date=2008-09-04 |accessdate=2008-10-24}}</ref> |
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Later in 2005, he appeared as an [[Energy analysis|energy analyst]] in the geopolitical thriller ''[[Syriana]]'' alongside [[George Clooney]] and [[Jeffrey Wright]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Lisa|last=Schwarzbaum|url=https://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/23/ew.mov.syriana/index.html|title=EW review: 'Syriana' lacks humanity|access-date=March 1, 2020|date=November 23, 2005|work=CNN|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235347/https://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/23/ew.mov.syriana/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film focuses on [[petroleum politics]] and the global influence of the oil industry. Damon says starring in the film broadened his understanding of the oil industry and that he hoped the people would talk about the film afterward.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=September 16, 2012 |title='Syriana' {{!}} Unscripted {{!}} Matt Damon, George Clooney|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7hSCA0Jh98 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211027/G7hSCA0Jh98| archive-date=October 27, 2021|access-date=August 18, 2018|publisher=[[Moviefone]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Peter Travers]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' was mainly impressed with Clooney's acting, but also found Damon's performance "whiplash".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Travers |first1=Peter |title=Syriana |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/syriana-90496/ |access-date=August 17, 2018 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 17, 2005 |archive-date=August 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817161506/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/syriana-90496/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2006, Damon joined [[Robert De Niro]] in ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' as a career [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent, and played an undercover [[mobster]] working for the [[Massachusetts State Police]] in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s ''[[The Departed]]'', a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller ''[[Infernal Affairs]]''.<ref name="People - Bio"/> Assessing his work in the two films, [[Manohla Dargis]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that Damon has the unique "ability to recede into a film while also being fully present, a recessed intensity, that distinguishes how he holds the screen."<ref name="NYT06">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/movies/moviesspecial/10darg.html |url-access=subscription |title=The Boyish Mr. Damon, Not So Boyish After All|access-date=April 21, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Manohla|last=Dargis|date=September 10, 2006|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006124231/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/movies/moviesspecial/10darg.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Departed'' received critical acclaim and won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/departed/|title=The Departed reviews|access-date=April 21, 2010|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|date=October 6, 2006 |archive-date=November 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118005417/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/departed/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|[[Box Office Mojo]] ranked it seventh amongst his films.<ref name="bomojo">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=mattdamon.htm|title=Box Office Mojo – Matt Damon|access-date=April 21, 2010|website=Box Office Mojo|archive-date=April 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405074109/http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=mattdamon.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>|group="nb"}} |
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==Awards and honors== |
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[[Image:Matt-Damon-Hollywood-Star.jpg|thumb|right|235px|Matt Damon's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]]] |
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*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".<ref name="IMDBAwards">{{cite web|publisher=Internet Movie Database|title=Awards for Matt Damon|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000354/awards|accessdate=2007-09-07}}</ref> |
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*On July 25, 2007, Damon became the 2,343rd person to receive a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref name="Xinhua">{{cite web|publisher=Xinhua.com|title=Matt Damon gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/26/content_6433258.htm|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> 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."<ref name="FoxNews">{{cite web|publisher=FOXNews.com|title=Matt Damon Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290888,00.html|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> |
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*Damon has been nominated for four [[Screen Actors Guild]] awards and seven [[MTV Movie Award]]s for various films. Additionally, he has three [[Emmy]] nominations for his work on the first three seasons of ''[[Project Greenlight]]''.<ref name="IMDBAwards"/> |
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*Damon has been named ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' magazine's [[Sexiest Man Alive]] for 2007.<ref name="PeopleMagazine">{{cite web|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|title=Matt Damon Named Sexiest Man Alive|url=http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20154290_20159879,00.html|accessdate=2007-11-14}}</ref> |
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*Damon won 'Best Ass-Kicker' and 'Guy of the Year' at the [[Spike Guys' Choice Awards]] of 2008.<ref name="MediaRelease">{{cite web|publisher=PRNewswire.com|title=Spike TV Announces 2008 'Guys Choice Winners|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-31-2008/0004823698&EDATE=|accessdate=2008-06-27}}</ref> |
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According to ''[[Forbes]]'' in August 2007, Damon was the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, his last three films at that time averaged US$29 at the box office for every dollar he earned.<ref name="ForbesPayback">{{cite news|last=Pomerantz|first=Dorothy|work=[[Forbes]]|title=Ultimate Star Payback|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/08/03/celebrities-hollywood-movies-biz-cz_dp_0806starpayback.html|date=August 6, 2007|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093033/http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/03/celebrities-hollywood-movies-biz-cz_dp_0806starpayback.html|url-status=live|archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref> Two of his major releases in 2007 were the films ''[[Ocean's Thirteen]]'' and [[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|''The Bourne Ultimatum'']], which were the third installments of their respective film series. Both films earned more than $300 million at the box-office.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ocean's Thirteen(2007) - Financial Information |url=https://www.https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Oceans-Thirteen#tab=summary |publisher=The Numbers |access-date=August 10, 2022 |archive-date=October 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021122315/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Oceans-Thirteen#tab=summary |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bourneultimatum.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=August 16, 2022|archive-date=July 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707110915/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bourneultimatum.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Damon had an uncredited cameo in [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[Youth Without Youth (film)|Youth Without Youth]]'' (2007) and another [[Cameo appearance|cameo]] in the 2008 [[Che Guevara]] biopic ''[[Che (2008 film)|Che]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weissberg|first=Jay|title=Review: 'Youth Without Youth'|url=https://variety.com/2007/film/awards/youth-without-youth-2-1200555232/|access-date=August 7, 2016|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 20, 2007|archive-date=June 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604135957/http://variety.com/2007/film/awards/youth-without-youth-2-1200555232/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Salto|first=Stephen|title=The Curious Camerography of Matt Damon|url=http://www.ifc.com/2009/01/the-curious-cameography-of-mat|publisher=[[IFC (American TV network)|IFC]]|access-date=August 7, 2016|date=January 8, 2009|archive-date=April 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427001257/http://www.ifc.com/2009/01/the-curious-cameography-of-mat|url-status=live}}</ref> While he was working on the ''Bourne'' films, Damon declined an offer from [[James Cameron]] to star in his upcoming film ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]'', as he did not want to break his ''Bourne'' contract. Cameron offered Damon 10% of the profits for the film, which went on to become the most successful of all time. Damon said later: "I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kemp |first=Sam |date=February 25, 2023 |title=Matt Damon names the biggest mistake of his career |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/matt-damon-biggest-mistake-of-career/ |access-date=February 26, 2023 |website=[[Far Out (magazine)|Far Out]] |archive-date=February 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226160234/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/matt-damon-biggest-mistake-of-career/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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==Filmography== |
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{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px #aaa solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%;" |
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|- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" |
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! Year |
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! Film |
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! Role |
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! Notes |
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|- |
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| 1988 || ''[[Mystic Pizza]]'' || Steamer || One line |
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|- |
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| 1992 || ''[[School Ties]]'' || Charlie Dillon || |
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|- |
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| 1993 || ''[[Geronimo: An American Legend]]'' || 2nd Lt. Britton Davis || |
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|- |
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|rowspan="2"| 1996 || ''[[Glory Daze]]'' || Edgar Pudwhacker || Cameo |
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|- |
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| ''[[Courage Under Fire]]'' || Specialist Ilario || |
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|- |
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|rowspan="3"| 1997 || ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' || Will Hunting || [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]] <small>with [[Ben Affleck]]</small><br>[[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay]]<br>Nominated - [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]<br>Nominated - [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama|Golden Globe Award for Best Actor]]<br>Nominated - [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast]]<br>Nominated - [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role|Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor]]<br>Nominated - [[Writers Guild of America Award]]<small> with [[Ben Affleck]]</small><br />Salary of $500,000<ref name="TisCaliBio"/><br /> |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Rainmaker (1997 film)|The Rainmaker]]'' || Rudy Baylor || |
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|- |
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| ''[[Chasing Amy]]'' || Shawn Oran || Cameo |
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|- |
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|rowspan="2"| 1998 || ''[[Rounders (film)|Rounders]]'' || Mike McDermott || Salary of $600,000<ref name="WAM">{{cite web|publisher=Wild About Movies|title=Matt Damon Interview|url=http://www.wildaboutmovies.com/interviews/MattDamonInterview-BourneUltimatumMovie-TimNasson.php|accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref> |
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|- |
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| ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' || Private James Francis Ryan || Nominated - [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast]] |
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|- |
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|rowspan="2"| 1999 |
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| ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' || [[Tom Ripley]] || Nominated - [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama|Golden Globe Award for Best Actor]] |
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|- |
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| ''[[Dogma (film)|Dogma]]'' || Loki || |
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|- |
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|rowspan="4"| 2000 |
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| ''[[Finding Forrester]]'' || Steven Sanderson || Cameo |
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|- |
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| ''[[All the Pretty Horses (film)|All the Pretty Horses]]'' || John Grady Cole || Salary of $5,500,000<ref name="IMDB"/> |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Legend of Bagger Vance]]'' || Rannulph Junuh || |
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|- |
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| ''[[Titan A.E.]]'' || Cale Tucker || Voice only |
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|- |
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|rowspan="3"| 2001 || ''[[The Majestic]]'' || Luke Trimble || Voice only |
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|- |
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| ''[[Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]'' || Linus Caldwell || |
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|- |
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| ''[[Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]'' || Himself || Cameo |
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|- |
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|rowspan="4"| 2002 || ''[[Confessions of a Dangerous Mind]]'' || Matt, bachelor #2 || Cameo |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Bourne Identity (2002 film)|The Bourne Identity]]'' || [[Jason Bourne (character)|Jason Bourne]] || Salary of $10,000,000<ref name="TisCaliBio"/> |
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|- |
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| ''[[Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron]]'' || Spirit || Voice |
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|- |
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| ''[[Gerry (film)|Gerry]]'' || Gerry || Also co-writer |
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|- |
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| 2003 || ''[[Stuck on You (film)|Stuck on You]]'' || Bob Tenor || |
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|- |
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|rowspan="5"| 2004 || ''Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train'' || Narrator || Voice |
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|- |
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| ''[[Ocean's Twelve]]'' || Linus Caldwell || |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Bourne Supremacy (film)|The Bourne Supremacy]]'' || [[Jason Bourne (character)|Jason Bourne]] ||Salary of $26,000,000<ref name="Forbes"/> |
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|- |
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| ''[[Jersey Girl (2004 film)|Jersey Girl]]'' || [[Public relations|PR]] Exec #2 || Cameo |
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|- |
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| ''[[Eurotrip]]'' || Donny || Cameo |
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|- |
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|rowspan="2"| 2005 || ''[[Syriana]]'' || Bryan Woodman || |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'' || [[Wilhelm Grimm|Will (Wilhelm) Grimm]] || |
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|- |
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|rowspan="2"| 2006 || ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' || Edward Wilson || |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Departed]]'' || Colin Sullivan || Nominated - [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast]] |
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|- |
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|rowspan="3"| 2007 || ''[[Ocean's Thirteen]]'' || Linus Caldwell || |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum (film)|The Bourne Ultimatum]]'' || [[Jason Bourne (character)|Jason Bourne]] || |
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|- |
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| ''[[Youth Without Youth (film)|Youth Without Youth]]'' || Ted Jones, Life Magazine Reporter ||Cameo |
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|- |
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| rowspan="1"| 2008 || ''[[Che (film)|Che: Part Two]]'' || Fr. Schwarz ||Cameo |
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|- |
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| rowspan="3"| 2009 |
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| ''[[Margaret (film)|Margaret]]'' || Mr. Aaron|| ''completed'' |
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|- |
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|| ''[[Green Zone (film)|Green Zone]]'' || Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller || ''post-production'' |
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|- |
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| ''[[The Informant (2009 film)| The Informant]]'' || [[Mark Whitacre]] || ''post-production'' |
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|- |
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|} |
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=== 2009–2019: Established actor === |
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==References== |
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[[File:Matt Damon 2009 Venice Film Festival.jpg|thumb|upright|Damon attending an event for ''[[The Informant!]]'' at the [[2009 Venice International Film Festival]]]] |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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He made a guest appearance in 2009 on the sixth-season finale of ''[[Entourage (American TV series)|Entourage]]'' as himself, where he tries to pressure [[Vincent Chase]] ([[Adrian Grenier]]) into donating to his real foundation ''ONEXONE''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://people.com/tv/matt-damon-fundraises-on-entourage/|title=Matt Damon Fundraises on ''Entourage''|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M.|date=July 13, 2009|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235345/https://people.com/tv/matt-damon-fundraises-on-entourage/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2009/10/11/we-hear-tom-werner-katy-davis-matt-damon-more/|title=We Hear: Tom Werner, Katy Davis, Matt Damon & more...|date=October 11, 2009|work=[[Boston Herald]]|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235349/https://www.bostonherald.com/2009/10/11/we-hear-tom-werner-katy-davis-matt-damon-more/|url-status=live}}</ref> His next role was Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy ''[[The Informant!]]'' (2009),<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/21/theinformant.soderbergh/index.html|title=Damon's weighty role in comedy 'The Informant!'|last=Corliss|first=Richard|date=September 17, 2009|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235346/https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/21/theinformant.soderbergh/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> in which his Golden Globe-nominated work was described by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as such: "The star – who has quietly and steadily turned into a great Everyman actor – is in nimble control as he reveals his character's deep crazies."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2009/09/16/informant-2/|title=The Informant|access-date=March 1, 2020|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=September 16, 2009|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006094042/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20304807,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2009, Damon portrayed [[South Africa national rugby union team]] captain [[Francois Pienaar|François Pienaar]] in the [[Clint Eastwood]]-directed film ''[[Invictus (film)|Invictus]]'', which is based on the 2008 [[John Carlin (journalist)|John Carlin]] book ''Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation'' and features [[Morgan Freeman]] as [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref name="HumanFactor">{{cite news|last=Leys|first=Nick|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/damon-tackles-rugby-in-flick/story-e6frfkp9-1111119134336|title=Matt Damon takes rugby union to Hollywood|work=news.com.au|access-date=October 10, 2014|date=March 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018203642/http://www.news.com.au/national/damon-tackles-rugby-in-flick/story-e6frfkp9-1111119134336|url-status=live|archive-date=October 18, 2014}}</ref> ''Invictus'' earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. ''[[The New Republic]]'' observed that he brought "it off with low-key charm and integrity."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-plank/the-mini-review-invictus|title=The Mini-Review: 'Invictus'|access-date=April 21, 2010|magazine=[[The New Republic]]|archive-date=December 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216072922/http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-plank/the-mini-review-invictus|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon also lent his voice to the English version of the animated film ''[[Ponyo]]'', which was released in the United States in August 2009.<ref name="PonyoVoice">{{cite news|last=Child|first=Ben|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/27/hayaomiyazaki|title=English-language cast announced for Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=April 5, 2009|date=November 27, 2008|location=London|archive-date=September 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930144632/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/27/hayaomiyazaki|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Further reading== |
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*Altman, Sheryl and Berk, Sheryl. ''Matt Damon and Ben Affleck: On and Off Screen''. HarperCollins Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0061071455. |
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*Bego, Mark. ''Matt Damon: Chasing a Dream''. Andrews Mcmeel Pub, 1998. ISBN 0836271319. |
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*Diamond, Maxine and Hemmings, Harriet. ''Matt Damon a Biography''. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 1998. ISBN 0671026496. |
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*Nickson, Chris. ''Matt Damon: An Unauthorized Biography''. Renaissance Books, 1999. ISBN 1580630723. |
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In March 2010, Damon and Ben Affleck collaborated once again to create another production company titled [[Pearl Street Films]], a [[Warner Bros.]]-based production company.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/08/29/jennifer-todd-joins-pearl-street-films-as-president/ | title=Jennifer Todd Joins Pearl Street Films as President | date=August 29, 2012 | author=Lisa Foreman | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | access-date=October 4, 2014 | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101754/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-29/news/sns-rt-ben-affleck-jennifer-toddmt1thewrap54051-20120829_1_cbs-films-affleck-and-damon-jennifer-todd | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USAToday10">{{cite news|first=Donna|last=Freydkin|title=Busy actor, father Matt Damon is in the 'Green Zone'|work=[[USA Today]]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2010-03-11-Damon11_ST_N.htm|date=March 11, 2010|access-date=March 14, 2010|archive-date=March 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314111503/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2010-03-11-Damon11_ST_N.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, he reunited with director Paul Greengrass, who directed him in the ''Bourne Supremacy'' and ''Bourne Ultimatum'', for the action thriller ''[[Green Zone (film)|Green Zone]]'', which flopped commercially<ref name=corliss>{{cite magazine|last=Corliss|first=Richard|title=Alice turns Damon a sickly Green|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1971941,00.html|date=March 14, 2010|access-date=March 1, 2020|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235347/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1971941,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and received a score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and ambivalent reception from critics.<ref name="green zone reviews">{{cite web|url=http://au.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202804-green_zone/ |title=Green Zone Movie Reviews|work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=April 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407221346/http://au.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202804-green_zone/ |archive-date=April 7, 2010 }}</ref> He appeared as a guest star in an episode of ''[[Arthur (TV series)|Arthur]]'', titled "The Making of Arthur", as himself.<ref name="Animation"/> During season 5 of ''[[30 Rock]]'', he appeared as a guest star in the role of [[Liz Lemon]]'s boyfriend in the episodes "[[I Do Do]]", "[[The Fabian Strategy]]", "[[Live Show]]", and "[[Double-Edged Sword (30 Rock)|Double-edged Sword]]". Damon's 2010 projects included Clint Eastwood's ''[[Hereafter (film)|Hereafter]]'' and the [[Coen brothers]]' remake of the [[True Grit (1969 film)|1969 John Wayne-starring]] Western ''[[True Grit (2010 film)|True Grit]]''.<ref name="collider 2010 interview">{{cite web |title=Matt Damon talks Future Projects, Oscars and Directing His First Feature |url=https://www.collider.com/2010/02/27/matt-damon-talks-future-projects-oscars-and-directing-his-first-feature-info-on-the-coen-brothers-true-grit-the-rfk-project-with-gary-ross-clint-eastwoods-hereafter-liberace-contagion-more/ |first=Steve |last=Weintraub |work=collider.com |date=February 27, 2010 |access-date=March 5, 2010 |archive-date=March 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100303111633/http://www.collider.com/2010/02/27/matt-damon-talks-future-projects-oscars-and-directing-his-first-feature-info-on-the-coen-brothers-true-grit-the-rfk-project-with-gary-ross-clint-eastwoods-hereafter-liberace-contagion-more |url-status=live }}</ref> He also narrated ''[[Inside Job (2010 film)|Inside Job]]'', a documentary film about the effects of financial deregulation in the [[2007–2008 financial crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/2010/05/is_matt_damons_narration_of_a.html |title=Is Matt Damon's Narration of a Cannes Doc a Sign that Hollywood is Abandoning Obama? |first=Logan |last=Hill |work=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] |date=May 16, 2010 |access-date=August 11, 2023 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819221334/https://www.vulture.com/2010/05/is_matt_damons_narration_of_a.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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==External links== |
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{{commons|Matt Damon}} |
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In 2010, he was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, ranking 37th.<ref name="The Numbers">{{cite web|publisher=The Numbers|title=All Time Top 100 Stars at the Domestic Box Office|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-date=August 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825163052/http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, he starred in ''[[The Adjustment Bureau]]'', ''[[Contagion (2011 film)|Contagion]]'', and ''[[We Bought a Zoo (film)|We Bought a Zoo]]''. That same year, the documentary which he narrated, ''American Teacher'', opened in New York before national screening.<ref name=Docu>{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Anna M.|title=Film Examines the Challenging Economics Facing Teachers|url=http://www.wnyc.org/story/302378-do-teachers-have-it-made-hardly-a-new-film-says/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 24, 2011|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 24, 2011|archive-date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814091657/http://www.wnyc.org/story/302378-do-teachers-have-it-made-hardly-a-new-film-says/|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 2011, he voiced a [[krill]] named Bill in the animated film ''[[Happy Feet Two]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/movies/happy-feet-two-with-brad-pitt-matt-damon-and-elijah-wood-review.html|title=A Search for Self-Discovery, Two Left Feet and All |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 4, 2014|date=November 17, 2011|archive-date=October 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024073758/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/movies/happy-feet-two-with-brad-pitt-matt-damon-and-elijah-wood-review.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2012, Damon signed a multiyear deal to be the voice of [[TD Ameritrade]] advertisements, replacing [[Sam Waterston]] as the discount brokerage's spokesman. Damon donated all fees from the advertisements to charity.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mattdamon-tdameritrade-idUSTRE8081Q120120109 | work=Reuters | title=Matt Damon new voice of TD Ameritrade | date=January 9, 2012 | access-date=July 5, 2021 | archive-date=February 3, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203114410/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mattdamon-tdameritrade-idUSTRE8081Q120120109 | url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2012, Damon filmed ''[[Promised Land (2012 film)|Promised Land]]'', directed by [[Gus Van Sant]], which Damon co-wrote with [[John Krasinski]].<ref name=dl120201>{{cite news | url = https://deadline.com/2012/02/focus-participant-acquire-matt-damonjohn-krasinski-film-gus-van-sant-directing-224414/ | title = Focus, Participant Acquire Matt Damon/John Krasinski Film; Gus Van Sant Directing | first = Mike | last = Fleming | date = February 1, 2012 | work = [[Deadline Hollywood]] | access-date = April 17, 2020 | archive-date = February 11, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140211221407/http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/focus-participant-acquire-matt-damonjohn-krasinski-film-gus-van-sant-directing/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Rittmeyer|first=Brian C.|url=http://triblive.com/news/1845285-74/damon-adkins-apollo-matt-movie-street-nice-former-krasinski-promised#axzz2737LZmL4|title=Fan-friendly actors take time for photos, say hello|work=Triblive News|date=May 22, 2012|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603122230/http://triblive.com/news/1845285-74/damon-adkins-apollo-matt-movie-street-nice-former-krasinski-promised|archive-date=June 3, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Gerhardt|first=Tina|date=December 31, 2012|title=Matt Damon Exposes Fracking in Promised Land|url=http://www.progressive.org/matt-damon-exposes-fracking-in-promised-land|work=[[The Progressive]]|access-date=December 31, 2012|archive-date=August 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826055310/http://www.progressive.org/matt-damon-exposes-fracking-in-promised-land|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon's next film with frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh was ''[[Behind the Candelabra]]'', a drama about the life of pianist/entertainer [[Liberace]] (played by [[Michael Douglas]]) with Damon playing Liberace's longtime partner [[Scott Thorson]]. The film premiered on [[Home Box Office|HBO]] on May 26, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Douglas To Play Liberace |url=https://people.com/movies/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace/ |first=Peter |last=Mikelbank |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=September 15, 2009 |access-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235349/https://people.com/movies/michael-douglas-to-play-liberace/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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[[File:Matt Damon 2014.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Damon at the French premiere of ''[[The Monuments Men]]'' in 2014]] |
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Damon starred in the science fiction film ''[[Elysium (film)|Elysium]]'' (2013), where he played former car-thief-turned-factory-worker Max DeCosta.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=''Elysium'': A Slick Dystopian Ride That Goes Off the Rails|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/08/elysium-movie-review/|access-date=August 9, 2013|first=Angela|last=Watercutter|magazine=Wired|date=August 9, 2013|archive-date=April 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408060629/http://www.wired.com/2013/08/elysium-movie-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also appeared in the science fiction movie ''[[The Zero Theorem]]'' in 2013, directed by [[Terry Gilliam]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/movies/christoph-waltz-drowns-in-technocracy-in-the-zero-theorem.html|title=Work, Love and Therapy, in So Many Bytes |first=A.O. |last=Scott |author-link=A.O. Scott|date=September 18, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 4, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006121050/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/movies/christoph-waltz-drowns-in-technocracy-in-the-zero-theorem.html|url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, Damon appeared in a 20-second advertisement for [[Nespresso]], directed by [[Grant Heslov]], with whom he worked on ''[[The Monuments Men]]''. The deal earned him $3 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=Matt Damon was paid $3 million for a 20 second Nespresso commercial|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/matt-damon-was-paid-3-million-for-a-20-second-nespresso-commercial/news-story/d3e7a2471d3a5f2dd59e70a7d582ee03|work=news.com.au|access-date=May 22, 2019|date=November 11, 2013|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819235433/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/matt-damon-was-paid-3-million-for-a-20-second-nespresso-commercial/news-story/d3e7a2471d3a5f2dd59e70a7d582ee03|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon also provided voice-over for [[United Airlines]]' resurrected "Fly the Friendly Skies" advertisement campaign in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Watch the Spot: United Resurrects 'Fly the Friendly Skies'|url=http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/united-resurrects-fly-friendly-skies/244277/|work=Advertising Age|access-date=June 4, 2015|date=September 20, 2013|archive-date=February 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227082450/http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/united-resurrects-fly-friendly-skies/244277/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014, he starred in [[George Clooney]]'s ''[[The Monuments Men]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/19/george-clooney-monuments-men-ignores-british-hero|title=George Clooney's Nazi art theft film attacked for ignoring real-life British war hero|date=January 18, 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=October 4, 2014|author=Robin Stummer|archive-date=October 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009040001/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/19/george-clooney-monuments-men-ignores-british-hero|url-status=live}}</ref> and played the minor role of scientist Dr. Mann in [[Christopher Nolan]]'s ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]''. That same year, Damon appeared as a celebrity correspondent for ''[[Years of Living Dangerously]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/correspondent/matt-damon/|title=Years of Living Dangerously Correspondent Page|access-date=June 17, 2016|archive-date=March 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317102807/http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/correspondent/matt-damon/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 2015, Damon portrayed the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, in [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[The Martian (film)|The Martian]]'', based on [[Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir]]'s bestselling novel [[The Martian (Weir novel)|of the same name]], a role that earned him the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]] and his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Having not returned for the fourth film in the [[Bourne film series|''Bourne'' film series]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Weintraub|first=Steve|title=Matt Damon Interview – THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM|url=https://collider.com/entertainment/article.asp/aid/4967/cid/13/tcid/1|work=Collider|access-date=August 18, 2012|date=August 27, 2007|archive-date=February 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219141039/http://collider.com/entertainment/article.asp/aid/4967/cid/13/tcid/1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Owen|title=Definitely No Damon For Bourne Legacy|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/definitely-damon-bourne-legacy/|work=Empire|access-date=March 1, 2020|date=October 11, 2010|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235345/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/definitely-damon-bourne-legacy/|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon reprised his role in 2016's ''[[Jason Bourne (film)|Jason Bourne]]'', reuniting with Paul Greengrass. In 2017, Damon played the lead role in [[Zhang Yimou]]'s ''[[The Great Wall (film)|The Great Wall]]'', a hit internationally and a disappointment at the domestic box office. The film, and Damon's casting, were not well received by critics.<ref name="FebruaryRelease">{{cite news|last=McNary|first=Dave|title=Matt Damon's 'The Great Wall' Pushed Back to 2017|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/the-great-wall-moved-back-matt-damon-1201709873/|access-date=February 19, 2016|work=Variety|date=February 18, 2016|archive-date=May 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504153423/http://variety.com/2016/film/news/the-great-wall-moved-back-matt-damon-1201709873/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kit|first=Borys|title=Zhang Yimou in Talks to Direct Legendary's 'Great Wall'|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/zhang-yimou-direct-legendary-great-wall-689250|access-date=September 21, 2014|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=August 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826062359/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/zhang-yimou-direct-legendary-great-wall-689250|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Zhang Yimou To Scale 'The Great Wall'|url=https://deadline.com/2014/03/zhang-yimou-to-scale-the-great-wall-700861/|access-date=September 21, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914004356/http://deadline.com/2014/03/zhang-yimou-to-scale-the-great-wall-700861/|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 2017, he starred in two satires, George Clooney's 1950s-set ''[[Suburbicon]]'', which was released in October,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2017/07/toronto-film-festival-2017-margot-robbie-gary-oldman-jake-gyllenhaal-emma-stone-christian-bale-1202135285/ |title=Toronto Film Festival 2017 Unveils Strong Slate |work=Deadline |date=July 25, 2017 |access-date=July 25, 2017 |archive-date=July 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727162146/http://deadline.com/2017/07/toronto-film-festival-2017-margot-robbie-gary-oldman-jake-gyllenhaal-emma-stone-christian-bale-1202135285/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Alexander Payne]]'s comedy ''[[Downsizing (film)|Downsizing]]'', which was released in December.<ref>{{cite web|title=Matt Damon downsizing with Alexander Payne|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 6, 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/06/matt-damon-downsizing-alexander-payne|access-date=January 7, 2015|archive-date=April 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413060420/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/06/matt-damon-downsizing-alexander-payne|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2018, he portrayed jurist [[Brett Kavanaugh]] on the late night sketch series ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.npr.org/2018/09/30/653062763/matt-damon-is-a-sniffing-shouting-brett-kavanaugh-on-snl-season-premiere|title= Matt Damon Is A Sniffing, Shouting Brett Kavanaugh On 'SNL' Season Premiere|website= NPR|access-date= August 10, 2023|archive-date= August 10, 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230810232047/https://www.npr.org/2018/09/30/653062763/matt-damon-is-a-sniffing-shouting-brett-kavanaugh-on-snl-season-premiere|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2019, Damon portrayed [[Carroll Shelby]] in the action biographical drama ''[[Ford v Ferrari]]'', directed by [[James Mangold]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Krok |first=Andrew |title=Ford v Ferrari trailer puts Matt Damon in Carroll Shelby's shoes, Christian Bale in the driver's seat |url=https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-v-ferrari-trailer-1966-le-mans-matt-damon-carroll-shelby-christian-bale-ken-miles/ |website=CNet |access-date=July 1, 2019 |archive-date=July 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145049/https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-v-ferrari-trailer-1966-le-mans-matt-damon-carroll-shelby-christian-bale-ken-miles/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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=== 2021–present: Continued positive critical reception === |
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{{as of |2021}}, [[Matt Damon filmography|the films in which he had appeared]] had collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North American box office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.the-numbers.com/person/550401-Matt-Damon |title=Matt Damon |website=m.the-numbers.com |access-date=July 26, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501071711/https://m.the-numbers.com/person/550401-Matt-Damon }}</ref> In 2021, Damon starred in [[Tom McCarthy (director)|Tom McCarthy]]'s [[crime films|crime drama]] ''[[Stillwater (film)|Stillwater]]'', playing an unemployed [[oil rig]] worker from Oklahoma who sets out with a French woman to prove his convicted daughter's innocence. The film had its world premiere at the [[2021 Cannes Film Festival]]. [[IndieWire]] praised Damon's performance as "graced with a quiet softness that offsets the sheer volume of the character he's playing".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/2021/07/stillwater-review-matt-damon-1234649672/|title= 'Stillwater' Review: Matt Damon Is a Dad on a Mission in Tom McCarthy's Affecting Turducken of a Movie|publisher=[[IndieWire]]|date= July 8, 2021|access-date= July 1, 2022|archive-date= July 1, 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220701225455/https://www.indiewire.com/2021/07/stillwater-review-matt-damon-1234649672/|url-status= live}}</ref> That same year saw the release of the historical drama ''[[The Last Duel (2021 film)|The Last Duel]]'', which he starred in and co-wrote alongside [[Ben Affleck]]. The film, set in [[medieval France]] and based on the [[The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France|book of the same name]], focuses on the true story of a knight, [[Jean de Carrouges]], portrayed by Damon, who challenges his former friend to a [[judicial duel]] after he's accused of [[raping]] his wife. It premiered at the [[78th Venice International Film Festival]] and earned positive reviews while being a financial failure at the box office.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ben-affleck-the-last-duel-box-office-1235062522/|title= Ben Affleck on Why 'The Last Duel' Bombed and What He Thinks of Ridley Scott Blaming Millennials|website= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date= December 15, 2021|access-date= July 1, 2022|archive-date= July 1, 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220701225455/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ben-affleck-the-last-duel-box-office-1235062522/|url-status= live}}</ref> |
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In 2023, Damon starred as [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] executive [[Sonny Vaccaro]] in ''[[Air (2023 American film)|Air]]'', a drama film about the launch of [[Air Jordan]], co-starring and directed by Affleck.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ben-affleck-matt-damon-true-life-story-nike-sneaker-man-sonny-vaccaro-1235132424/|title=Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Team for True Life Story of Nike Sneaker Man Sonny Vaccaro (Exclusive)|first=Borys|last=Kitt|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=April 21, 2022|archive-date=April 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421051637/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ben-affleck-matt-damon-true-life-story-nike-sneaker-man-sonny-vaccaro-1235132424/|url-status=live}}</ref> It marked the first release from Affleck and Damon's independent production company, [[Artists Equity]], which they had formed in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnes|first=Brooks|title=Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to Start Film Production Company|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/media/ben-affleck-matt-damon-film-company.html|access-date=November 21, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |date=November 20, 2022|archive-date=November 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121001744/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/media/ben-affleck-matt-damon-film-company.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He also reunited with [[Christopher Nolan]] in the biographical film ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Kroll|first=Justin|date=November 2, 2021|title=Robert Downey Jr. And Matt Damon Latest Stars To Join Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'|url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/robert-downey-jr-matt-damon-christopher-nolan-oppenheimer-1234859892/|access-date=November 2, 2021|website=Deadline|archive-date=November 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102154342/https://deadline.com/2021/11/robert-downey-jr-matt-damon-christopher-nolan-oppenheimer-1234859892/|url-status=live}}</ref> playing [[Leslie Groves]], the director of the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=November 2, 2021|title=Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. Join Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matt-damon-robert-downey-jr-christopher-nolan-oppenheimer-1235040518/|access-date=November 2, 2021|website=The Hollywood Reporter|archive-date=November 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102160710/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/matt-damon-robert-downey-jr-christopher-nolan-oppenheimer-1235040518/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Keegan |first=Rebecca |date=July 14, 2023 |title="This Can't Be Safe. It's Got to Have Bite": Christopher Nolan and Cast Unleash 'Oppenheimer' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/oppenheimer-christopher-nolan-cast-interview-film-1235535418/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |archive-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720013003/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/oppenheimer-christopher-nolan-cast-interview-film-1235535418/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was a critical and commercial success.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zemler|first1=Emily|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-08-04/oppenheimer-movie-christopher-nolan-atomic-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-critics|title=Critics say omitting the Japanese toll makes 'Oppenheimer' 'morally half-formed'|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url-access=limited|date=August 4, 2023|access-date=August 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804122246/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-08-04/oppenheimer-movie-christopher-nolan-atomic-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-critics|archive-date=August 4, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon will work with Nolan once again on ''[[The Odyssey (2026 film)|The Odyssey]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=December 23, 2024 |title=Christopher Nolan's Next Film Is An Adaptation Of Homer's 'The Odyssey,' Universal Reveals |url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-confirmed-directors-new-film-universal-1236241340/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241223222535/https://deadline.com/2024/12/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-confirmed-directors-new-film-universal-1236241340/ |archive-date=December 23, 2024 |access-date=December 24, 2024 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kroll|first=Justin|date=October 8, 2024|title=Christopher Nolan Sets Next Movie At Universal In Imax For Summer 2026 With Matt Damon Eyed To Star|url=https://deadline.com/2024/10/christopher-nolan-new-movie-matt-damon-release-date-1236099940/|access-date=October 8, 2024|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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== Activism == |
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[[File:Matt Damon in Haiti 2009.jpg|thumb|Damon with the [[United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti]] in 2008]] |
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Damon, alongside [[George Clooney]], [[Brad Pitt]], [[Don Cheadle]], [[David Pressman]], and [[Jerry Weintraub]], is one of the founders of [[Not On Our Watch Project]], an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in [[Darfur conflict|Darfur]].<ref name="NOT">{{cite web|publisher=NotOurWatchProject.org|title=Not On Our Watch Project|url=http://notonourwatchproject.org/who_we_are|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917221559/http://notonourwatchproject.org/who_we_are|archive-date=September 17, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Damon supports One Campaign, which is aimed at fighting AIDS and poverty in [[Third World]] countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising. He is an ambassador for ONEXONE, a nonprofit foundation committed to supporting, preserving, and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world.<ref name="OneXOne">{{cite news|author=[[The Canadian Press]]|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/t-o-benefit-gala-hosted-by-matt-damon-raises-1m-1.256415|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902030421/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20070914/damon_charity_070914/20070914/?hub=SpecialEvent2&subhub=PrintStory|url-status=live|archive-date=September 2, 2008|title=T.O. benefit gala hosted by Matt Damon raises $1M|access-date=April 5, 2009|date=September 17, 2007|publisher=CTV}}</ref> |
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Damon is a spokesperson for [[Feeding America]], a hunger-relief organization, and a member of their Entertainment Council, participating in their [[Ad Council]] [[public service announcement]]s.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.minnpost.com/community-sketchbook/2010/12/matt-damon-portraying-minnetonka-man-puts-real-face-hunger| title=Matt Damon, portraying a Minnetonka man, puts a real face on hunger| newspaper=MinnPost| date=December 10, 2010| author=Cynthia Boyd| access-date=October 4, 2014| archive-date=October 6, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006073942/http://www.minnpost.com/community-sketchbook/2010/12/matt-damon-portraying-minnetonka-man-puts-real-face-hunger| url-status=live}}</ref> He is a board member of Tonic Mailstopper (formerly GreenDimes), a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day.<ref name="Oprah">{{cite web|publisher=Oprah.com|title=It's Easy Being Green|url=http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/oprahshow1_ss_20070420/6|access-date=April 5, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425192531/http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/oprahshow1_ss_20070420/6|archive-date=April 25, 2009}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|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% 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."<ref name="MDGreenDimes">{{cite news|author=Aceshowbiz|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2007-04/23/content_857704.htm|title=Matt Damon goes green with GreenDimes.com|access-date=April 5, 2009|date=April 23, 2007|newspaper=[[China Daily]]|archive-date=February 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214101355/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2007-04/23/content_857704.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2021}}|group="nb"}} Damon was the founder of the [[H2O Africa Foundation]], the charitable arm of the [[Running the Sahara]] expedition,<ref name="H20">{{cite news|last=DeCwikiel-Kane |first=Dawn |work=[[News & Record (Greensboro)|Greensboro News & Record]]|title=Charlie Engle's office: the great outdoors |url=http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/08/31/article/carlie_engles_office_the_great_outdoors |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080930050555/http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/08/31/article/carlie_engles_office_the_great_outdoors |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2008 |date=August 31, 2008 |access-date=April 5, 2009 }}</ref> which merged with [[WaterPartners]] to create [[Water.org]] in July 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://water.org/2009/07/new-waterorg/ |title=Water.org Working Toward Global Access to Safe Water |publisher=Water.org |date=July 14, 2009 |access-date=July 24, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719083450/http://water.org/2009/07/new-waterorg/ |archive-date=July 19, 2009 }}</ref> Water.org has partnered with corporate sponsors to promote awareness and raise funds to support its mission of bringing safe, clean, cost-effective drinking water and sanitation to developing countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://water.org/partners/ |title=Partners |publisher=Water.org |access-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111125626/https://water.org/partners/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In this context, Damon has been the face of advertising campaigns to promote Water.org in conjunction with products from major sponsors. |
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In October 2011, Water.org received an $8 million grant from the [[PepsiCo]] Foundation to scale up WaterCredit, which provides microloans to families throughout India.<ref>{{cite web|title=PepsiCo Foundation expands commitment to Water.org with $8 million contribution to scale "WaterCredit" across India|url=https://water.org/about-us/news-press/pepsico-foundation-8-million-grant/|publisher=Water.org|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111125626/https://water.org/about-us/news-press/pepsico-foundation-8-million-grant/|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon has been part of promoting those efforts, tying in with the [[Aquafina]] and [[Ethos Water]] brands of bottled water owned by PepsiCo and [[Starbucks]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Natalie|last=Zmuda|title=Pepsi partners with Starbucks water brand. Also teams with Matt Damon's group to push charitable message behind Ethos|url=https://adage.com/article/news/pepsi-partners-starbucks-water-brand/125593|work=AdAge|date=October 18, 2013|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111131139/https://adage.com/article/news/pepsi-partners-starbucks-water-brand/125593|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Why Matt Damon and Gary White of Water.org are friends of PepsiCo|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOgYbz1hzHU|access-date=January 11, 2022|website=YouTube|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111125625/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOgYbz1hzHU|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 2015, Damon has promoted [[ABInBev|Anheuser-Busch InBev]]'s [[Stella Artois]] beer brand as a Water.org partner, including the sale of limited-edition "blue chalice" glasses imprinted with an embellished blue version of the brand's logo.<ref>{{cite news| first=Alissa| last=Fitzgerald| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alissafitzgerald/2021/11/05/matt-damon-x-stella-artois-join-forces-to-give-back/?sh=5e3b229669ae| archive-date=January 11, 2022| access-date=January 11, 2022| title=Matt Damon X Stella Artois join forces to give back| website=Forbes| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111235523/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alissafitzgerald/2021/11/05/matt-damon-x-stella-artois-join-forces-to-give-back/?sh=5e3b229669ae| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Stella Artois partnership with Water.org|url=https://water.org/partners/stellaartois/|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111141515/https://water.org/partners/stellaartois/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In a television advertisement made for broadcast during the 2018 [[Super Bowl]] of the United States' [[National Football League]] (NFL), he promoted Water.org and Stella Artois's role in supporting its work.<ref>{{cite web| title=Stella Artois Limited Edition Chalice at Water.org (Matt Damon)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1W2mxYIeuo|access-date=January 11, 2022|website=YouTube|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111235524/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1W2mxYIeuo&gl=US&hl=en| url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In October 2021, he announced a new partnership with the cryptocurrency trading platform [[Crypto.com]], under which Crypto.com was to make a $1 million donation to Water.org. In the announcement, Damon said, "Crypto.com gave us this great donation, which is amazing. The money that I make for the commercials to promote them, I give 100% of that to Water.org as well. So, it's millions of dollars coming in to us."<ref>{{cite news|first=Jeff|last=Conway |title=Matt Damon announces Water.org partnership with Crypto.com |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffconway/2021/10/25/matt-damon-announces-waterorg-partnership-with-cryptocom/?sh=3fcf133e57b3 |website=Forbes|access-date=January 11, 2022|date=October 25, 2021|archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113090651/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffconway/2021/10/25/matt-damon-announces-waterorg-partnership-with-cryptocom/?sh=3fcf133e57b3|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bhasin|first=Kim|date=October 28, 2021|title=Matt Damon is the Face of Crypto.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/matt-damon-to-promote-crypto-com-in-race-to-attract-new-users|url-status=live|website=Bloomberg|access-date=January 19, 2022|archive-date=January 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105003528/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/matt-damon-to-promote-crypto-com-in-race-to-attract-new-users}}</ref> Damon's Crypto.com commercial<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBC5TVdYT8 |website=YouTube |title=Fortune Favours the Brave – Crypto.com |access-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110154807/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBC5TVdYT8 |url-status=live }}</ref> started rolling out in cinemas late in 2021, and then on television in January 2022, mainly during sports programming such as NFL games. Once it was broadcast widely on television, it sparked much criticism, as did its accompanying "making of" featurette.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2Jl8_eBOg |website=YouTube |title=The making of Fortune Favours the Brave – Crypto.com |access-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113090651/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2Jl8_eBOg |url-status=live }}</ref> In ''[[The Independent]]'', Nathan Place wrote, "Twitter is cringing after a TV commercial starring Matt Damon compared trading cryptocurrency to mankind's greatest achievements. In the ad, which aired during Sunday night’s NFL games, Mr Damon makes an abstract plug for crypto.com – a platform for exchanging digital currencies like Bitcoin – while striding past images of explorers and astronauts.<ref>{{cite news|first=Nathan |last=Place |title=Matt Damon mocked for new cryptocurrency ad |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/matt-damon-cryptocurrency-ad-twitter-b1986014.html |website=The Independent|date=January 3, 2022|archive-date=January 9, 2022 |access-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109081805/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/matt-damon-cryptocurrency-ad-twitter-b1986014.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' published an article by Lexie Cartwright summing up viewer reaction: "Matt Damon's new commercial plugging cryptocurrency has been absolutely savaged on social media, with viewers dubbing it 'insulting' and 'disgusting'." The story included a series of tweets, among them one by [[Carole Cadwalladr]] of ''[[The Observer]]'' in which she wrote, "There isn't enough yuck in the world to describe Matt Damon advertising a Ponzi scheme and comparing it to the moon landings."<ref>{{cite news|first=Lexie|last=Cartwright|title="Insulting": Matt Damon's new crypto move slammed|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/insulting-matt-damons-new-crypto-move-slammed/WLW752TDKWSL5V3UVMVTYB52UQ/|website=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=January 13, 2022|archive-date=January 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114095503/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/insulting-matt-damons-new-crypto-move-slammed/WLW752TDKWSL5V3UVMVTYB52UQ/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jody Rosen in the [[New York Times]] said that "There is something unseemly, to put it mildly, about the famous and fabulously wealthy urging crypto on their fans" and "The bleakness of that pitch is startling."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rosen |first=Jody |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Why Is Matt Damon Shilling For Crypto? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/magazine/matt-damon-crypto.html |magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 13, 2022 |archive-date=February 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212090329/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/magazine/matt-damon-crypto.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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== Filmography == |
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{{main |Matt Damon filmography}} |
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== Public image == |
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Comedian [[Jimmy Kimmel]] has a running gag on his [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television show, ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!]]'', [[Damon–Kimmel feud|where he apologizes for not being able to interview Damon at the end of each show]]. It culminated in a planned skit on September 12, 2006, when Damon stormed off after having his interview cut short.<ref name="USAW">{{cite news|last=Saad|first=Nardine|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Jimmy Kimmel vs. Matt Damon: A video history|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-video-history-20130124-story.html|date=January 24, 2013|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929095356/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/24/entertainment/la-et-mg-jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-video-history-20130124|url-status=live|archive-date=September 29, 2014}}</ref> Damon appeared in several of E! Entertainment's top ten ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' spoofs.<ref name="Kimmel top 10">{{cite web | url=http://www.eonline.com/news/464205/jimmy-kimmel-live-10-best-spoofs-and-pranks-in-the-show-s-history | title=Jimmy Kimmel Life 10 Best Spoofs and Pranks in the Show's History | publisher=E! Entertainment | date=September 27, 2013 | access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006103401/http://www.eonline.com/news/464205/jimmy-kimmel-live-10-best-spoofs-and-pranks-in-the-show-s-history| url-status=live |archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|On January 31, 2008, Kimmel aired a clip of his then girlfriend, comedian [[Sarah Silverman]], singing a song entitled "[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!#"I'm Fucking Ben Affleck"|I'm Fucking Matt Damon]]" in which Damon appeared.<ref name="Kimmel top 10" /><ref name="PeopleSarahMatt">{{cite news|last=Jordan|first=Julie|title=Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=February 2, 2008|url=https://people.com/celebrity/behind-matt-damons-raunchy-payback-to-jimmy-kimmel/|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=November 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106052730/https://people.com/celebrity/behind-matt-damons-raunchy-payback-to-jimmy-kimmel/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kimmel responded on February 24, 2008, with his music video which said that he was "fucking Ben Affleck". It featured Affleck along with several other actors.<ref name="Kimmel top 10" /> Another encounter, titled "The Handsome Men's Club", featured Kimmel, along with handsome actors and musicians. At the end of the skit, Kimmel had a door slammed in his face by Damon, who said that they had run out of time, followed by a sinister laugh.<ref name="Kimmel top 10" /><ref name="NYTKimmelAffleck">{{cite news|last=Wyatt|first=Edward|title=Late-Night TV Satires Become Online Hits |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 27, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/arts/television/27kimm.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510054615/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/arts/television/27kimm.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin|url-status=live}}</ref>|group="nb"}} On January 24, 2013, Damon took over his show and mentioned the long-standing feud and having been bumped from years of shows. It involved celebrities who were previously involved in the "feud", including Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, and [[Sarah Silverman]].<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://ew.com/article/2013/01/25/jimmy-kimmel-live-matt-damon/| title=Matt Damon takes over 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'| magazine=Entertainment Weekly| date=January 25, 2013| access-date=March 1, 2020| archive-date=March 1, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235348/https://ew.com/article/2013/01/25/jimmy-kimmel-live-matt-damon/| url-status=live}}</ref> |
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== Personal life == |
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[[File:Matt Damon Venice 2009.jpg|thumb|Damon with his wife Luciana Bozán at the [[2009 Venice International Film Festival]]]] |
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Damon met his Argentine wife, Luciana Bozán, while filming ''[[Stuck on You (film)|Stuck on You]]'' in Miami in April 2003.<ref name="meetingbarroso">{{cite news |last = Booth |first = Jessica |work = People |title = Who Is Matt Damon's Wife? All About Luciana Damon |url = https://people.com/movies/who-is-luciana-barroso-matt-damon-wife/ |date = August 1, 2024|access-date = August 15, 2024 }}</ref><ref name="USATBartender">{{cite news |agency = Associated Press |work = [[USA Today]] |title = Matt Damon, fiancee wed |url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-12-09-damon-wedding_x.htm |date = December 9, 2005 |access-date = April 5, 2009 |archive-date = March 10, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090310202405/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-12-09-damon-wedding_x.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> They became engaged in September 2005 and married in a private civil ceremony at the [[Manhattan Marriage Bureau]] on December 9, 2005. They have three daughters together born in June 2006,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://people.com/celebrity/matt-damon-wife-have-a-girl/|title=Matt Damon, Wife Have a Girl|magazine=People|access-date=August 13, 2014|archive-date=March 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322234741/http://people.com/celebrity/matt-damon-wife-have-a-girl/|url-status=live}}</ref> August 2008,<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Leonard|first=Elizabeth|url=https://people.com/celebrity/matt-damon-wife-have-a-girl/|title=Matt Damon and His Wife Welcome a Girl|magazine=People|date=August 20, 2008|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235347/https://people.com/celebrity/matt-damon-wife-have-a-girl/|url-status=live}}</ref> and October 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/parents/matt-damon-and-wife-welcome-daughter-stella/|title=Matt Damon Welcomes Daughter Stella Zavala|work=People|access-date=August 13, 2014|archive-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101002728/https://people.com/parents/matt-damon-and-wife-welcome-daughter-stella/|url-status=live}}</ref> He also has a stepdaughter Alexia Barroso (born 1998) from Bozán's previous marriage, and considers her to be his own.<ref>{{cite web|title=Matt Damon Was 'Bourne' to Be a Dad! Meet the Actor's 4 Daughters With Wife Luciana Barroso|url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/matt-damon-daughters-meet-the-actors-4-kids-with-luciana-barroso/|website=[[Closer Weekly]]|last=Braun|first=Kelly|date=August 7, 2019|access-date=November 6, 2019|archive-date=September 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904010317/https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/matt-damon-daughters-meet-the-actors-4-kids-with-luciana-barroso/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://starmagazine.com/2014/07/24/matt-damon-good-relationship-with-wifes-ex-husband-exclusive-interview/|title=EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Matt Damon's Great Relationship With Wife's Ex - Star Magazine|work=Star Magazine|date=July 24, 2014|access-date=June 13, 2015|archive-date=June 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616155116/http://starmagazine.com/2014/07/24/matt-damon-good-relationship-with-wifes-ex-husband-exclusive-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/matt-damon-harvey-weinstein-russell-crowe-sexual-abuse-scandal-interview-1202185574/|title=Matt Damon Denies Trying To Kill 2004 NYT Harvey Weinstein Story: "If There Was Ever An Event And Harvey Was Doing This…I Would Have Stopped It"|website=Deadline|quote=But now, as the father of four daughters[...]|date=October 10, 2017|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=April 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426031713/https://deadline.com/2017/10/matt-damon-harvey-weinstein-russell-crowe-sexual-abuse-scandal-interview-1202185574/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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The couple has lived in Miami and New York City;<ref>{{cite web |last=Freydkin |first=Donna |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-09-16-matt-damon-informant_N.htm |title=Nice-guy Matt Damon dug in for hefty role in 'Informant!' |work=USA Today |date=September 18, 2009 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006114601/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-09-16-matt-damon-informant_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and since 2012, they have lived in the [[Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles|Pacific Palisades]] neighborhood in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck Take Kids to Matt Damon's Pool Party | url=http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jennifer-garner-ben-affleck-take-kids-to-matt-damons-pool-party--2012138#ixzz3F6yNbCGD | magazine=US Weekly | date=August 13, 2012 | access-date=February 10, 2017 | archive-date=December 21, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221235849/http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jennifer-garner-ben-affleck-take-kids-to-matt-damons-pool-party--2012138#ixzz3F6yNbCGD | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, Damon bought a luxury penthouse in New York City's [[Brooklyn Heights]] neighborhood for $16.5 million.<ref name="Brooklyn penthouse">{{cite magazine |last=David |first=Mark |title=Brooklyn Heights Penthouse Purchase by Matt Damon Sets Borough Record |url=https://variety.com/2018/dirt/real-estalker/matt-damon-brooklyn-heights-1203097209/ |access-date=February 12, 2019 |magazine=Variety |date=December 31, 2018 |archive-date=January 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112232547/https://variety.com/2018/dirt/real-estalker/matt-damon-brooklyn-heights-1203097209/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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He is a fan of the [[Boston Red Sox]].<ref name="MattRedSox">{{cite news|last=Edes|first=Gordon|title=Loyalty not an act for this Red Sox fan|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=November 27, 2007|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/11/27/loyalty_not_an_act_for_this_red_sox_fan/|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=January 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105155147/http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/11/27/loyalty_not_an_act_for_this_red_sox_fan/|url-status=live}}</ref> After the team won the [[2007 World Series]], he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event.<ref name="DamonBOSOXDVD">{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Doug|title=World Series DVD coming Nov. 27|work=[[MLB.com]]|date=November 9, 2007|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article_entertainment.jsp?ymd=20071109&content_id=2297512&vkey=entertainment&fext=.jsp|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=April 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407140524/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article_entertainment.jsp?ymd=20071109&content_id=2297512&vkey=entertainment&fext=.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref> He has competed in several [[World Series of Poker]] (WSOP) events,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/poker/2007-07-09-wsop-winnings_N.htm|title=Final table veterans conserve World Series winnings|access-date=October 28, 2010|date=July 9, 2007|work=[[USA Today]]|archive-date=November 25, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125154105/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/poker/2007-07-09-wsop-winnings_N.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Ed|last=Koch|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/ups-downs-world-series-poker/|title=The highs and lows of the World Series of Poker|access-date=October 28, 2010|date=May 15, 2008|work=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|archive-date=July 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720002345/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/ups-downs-world-series-poker/|url-status=live}}</ref> including the [[2010 World Series of Poker]] main event.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Dan|last=Kadlec|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997467,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621010359/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997467,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 21, 2010|title=World Series of Poker: Attack of the Math Brats|access-date=October 28, 2010|date=June 28, 2010|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> He was eliminated from the 1998 WSOP by poker professional [[Doyle Brunson]].<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Andrew|last=Essex|author2=Tricia Laine|url=https://ew.com/article/1998/05/22/world-series-poker/|title=The World Series of Poker|access-date=October 28, 2010|date=May 22, 1998|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|archive-date=November 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109210517/http://www.ew.com/article/1998/05/22/world-series-poker|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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<!--Citations should be used approximately, there is no need to have 5+ citations for a statement or position. This is overcite.--><!--Please reference ''Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not'' before adding substantial changes to this section.--> |
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=== Political and social views=== |
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While discussing the [[Iraq War]] on ''[[Hardball with Chris Matthews]]'' in December 2006, Damon expressed concern about inequities across socioeconomic classes with regard to who is tasked with the responsibility of fighting wars.<ref name="OYE">{{cite news|publisher=United Press International|title=Damon: Maybe Bush twins should go to Iraq|url=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061215-091251-2299r |date=December 15, 2006|access-date=April 5, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070105010500/http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061215-091251-2299r |archive-date = January 5, 2007}}</ref> |
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In an interview with the [[Sunday Herald]] in January 2003, Damon expressed his support for [[Gun control]] with "I actually hate guns. They freak me out."<ref>https://www.ianwatsonuk.com/mattdamon.html</ref> |
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Damon is a supporter of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], and has made several critical attacks on [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] figures. However, he also expressed disappointment over the policies of President [[Barack Obama]].<ref name="DamonPalin">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3310993/YouTubes-best-US-election-videos.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221022939/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3310993/YouTubes-best-US-election-videos.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 21, 2009|title=YouTube's best US election videos|publisher=[[Telegraph.co.uk]]|date=October 31, 2008|access-date=April 5, 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Ali |first=Rahim |url=https://www.bet.com/article/rh75h5/matt-damon-criticizes-obama-and-american-politics |title=Matt Damon Criticizes Obama and American Politics |publisher=BET |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007033846/http://www.bet.com/news/celebrities/2012/12/28/matt-damon-criticizes-obama-and-politics.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He had a working relationship with the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]], primarily due to his friendship with [[Jason Furman]], his former Harvard roommate who became Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors to Obama.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/economist-jason-furman-is-the-wonkiest-wonk-in-the-white-house/2014/02/12/7e14b7bc-8e8f-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html|title=Jason Furman is the biggest nerd in the White House. And a juggler. And Matt Damon's former roommate.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=November 29, 2016|archive-date=August 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825191713/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/economist-jason-furman-is-the-wonkiest-wonk-in-the-white-house/2014/02/12/7e14b7bc-8e8f-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, Damon joined Ben Affleck and [[John Krasinski]] in hosting a fundraiser for Democratic [[United States Senate|Senate]] nominee [[Elizabeth Warren]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Daunt|first=Tina|date=May 22, 2012|title=Ben Affleck-Hosted Fundraiser for Elizabeth Warren Draws Big Stars, Big Bucks|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ben-affleck-hosted-fundraiser-elizabeth-327714|access-date=May 3, 2021|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|archive-date=May 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503134134/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ben-affleck-hosted-fundraiser-elizabeth-327714|url-status=live}}</ref> Damon endorsed [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/08/damon-affleck-krasinski-hosting-elizabeth-warren-fundraiser/hdRiIVwFoscCToE0W4nmhI/story.html|title=Damon, Affleck, Krasinski hosting Elizabeth Warren fundraiser|author1=Noah Bierman|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=May 8, 2012|access-date=October 5, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006094208/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/08/damon-affleck-krasinski-hosting-elizabeth-warren-fundraiser/hdRiIVwFoscCToE0W4nmhI/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/news/a6147/matt-damon-supporting-hillary-clinton/|title=Why Matt Damon is Supporting Hillary Clinton|last=Hallemann|first=Caroline|date=May 11, 2016|website=Town & Country|access-date=October 29, 2019|archive-date=October 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029134649/https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/news/a6147/matt-damon-supporting-hillary-clinton/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In October and December 2017, Damon made headlines when he made a series of comments regarding the [[Me Too movement]] against sexual harassment and misconduct. On October 10, [[Sharon Waxman]], a former reporter for ''[[The New York Times]]'', mentioned that Damon and [[Russell Crowe]] had made direct phone calls to her to vouch for the head of [[Miramax]] Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo. In her report, she suspected Lombardo of facilitating incidents of [[Harvey Weinstein]]'s sexual misconduct in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/media-enablers-harvey-weinstein-new-york-times/|title='Harvey Weinstein's Media Enablers'? The New York Times Is One of Them|last=Waxman|first=Sharon|date=October 8, 2017|work=[[TheWrap]]|access-date=October 14, 2017|archive-date=October 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014015627/https://www.thewrap.com/media-enablers-harvey-weinstein-new-york-times/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-weinstein-matt-damon-russell-crowe-new-york-times-sharon-waxman-2017-10|title=Former New York Times reporter says paper once killed story on Weinstein's sexual harassment after pressure from Matt Damon and Russell Crowe|last=Tani|first=Maxwell|date=October 9, 2017|work=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=October 10, 2017|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010022003/http://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-weinstein-matt-damon-russell-crowe-new-york-times-sharon-waxman-2017-10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2017/10/09/report-matt-damon-helped-kill-earlier-new-york-times-story-about-harvey-weinstein/2TDJnvLT0eDq9HhuvdmXjP/story.html|title=Report: Matt Damon helped kill earlier New York Times story about Harvey Weinstein|last=Shanahan|first=Mark|date=October 9, 2017|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=October 10, 2017|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010035227/http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2017/10/09/report-matt-damon-helped-kill-earlier-new-york-times-story-about-harvey-weinstein/2TDJnvLT0eDq9HhuvdmXjP/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Damon clarified later that the calls were solely to reassure her of Lombardo's professional qualifications in the film industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/matt-damon-harvey-weinstein-russell-crowe-sexual-abuse-scandal-interview-1202185574/|title=Matt Damon Denies Trying To Kill 2004 NYT Harvey Weinstein Story: "If There Was Ever An Event And Harvey Was Doing This...I Would Have Stopped It"|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=October 10, 2017|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=October 14, 2017|archive-date=October 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014012410/http://deadline.com/2017/10/matt-damon-harvey-weinstein-russell-crowe-sexual-abuse-scandal-interview-1202185574/|url-status=live}}</ref> Waxman endorsed Damon's statement on Twitter hours later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/matt-damon-denies-killing-2004-nyt-report-on-harvey-weinstein_us_59dd14ece4b01df09b769be5|title=Matt Damon Denies Killing 2004 NYT Report On Harvey Weinstein|last=Bradley|first=Bill|date=October 10, 2017|work=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=October 19, 2017|archive-date=October 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019105914/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/matt-damon-denies-killing-2004-nyt-report-on-harvey-weinstein_us_59dd14ece4b01df09b769be5|url-status=live}}</ref> Also during this time, Damon said that he had heard a story from [[Ben Affleck]] that [[Gwyneth Paltrow]], a co-worker on a feature film of his, had been harassed by Weinstein in 1996, but thought "she had handled it" because they continued to work together, and Weinstein "treated her incredibly respectfully".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/matt-damon-knew-gwyneth-paltrows-weinstein-harassment-story-w509939|title=Matt Damon Knew Gwyneth Paltrow's Weinstein Sexual Harassment Story|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 4, 2018|archive-date=January 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123048/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/matt-damon-knew-gwyneth-paltrows-weinstein-harassment-story-w509939|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie-harvey-weinstein.html |url-access=subscription |title=Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Others Say Weinstein Harassed Them|last1=Kantor|first1=Jodi|date=October 10, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 4, 2018|last2=Abrams|first2=Rachel |archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010170622/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie-harvey-weinstein.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In another series of interviews during December 2017, Damon advocated for a "spectrum of behavior" analysis<ref name="ABC News-2017">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/matt-damon-opens-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-confidentiality/story?id=51792548|title=Matt Damon on Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment and confidentiality agreements|date=December 14, 2017|website=ABC News|access-date=January 4, 2018|archive-date=January 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117213825/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/matt-damon-opens-harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-confidentiality/story?id=51792548|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chen-2017">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/matt-damon-theres-a-spectrum-in-sexual-misconduct-scandals-w514152|title=Matt Damon's Says 'There's a Spectrum' in Sexual Misconduct Scandals|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 4, 2018|archive-date=January 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123104/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/matt-damon-theres-a-spectrum-in-sexual-misconduct-scandals-w514152|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Desta-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/matt-damon-sexual-misconduct-comments|title=Matt Damon Is Still Talking About Sexual Misconduct|last=Desta|first=Yohana|work=HWD|access-date=January 4, 2018|archive-date=December 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223004748/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/matt-damon-sexual-misconduct-comments|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Guerrasio-2017">{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-damon-talks-about-sexual-misconduct-in-hollywood-2017-12|title=Matt Damon says we aren't talking enough about all the men in Hollywood who aren't sexual predators|work=Business Insider|access-date=January 4, 2018|archive-date=January 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104125230/http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-damon-talks-about-sexual-misconduct-in-hollywood-2017-12|url-status=live}}</ref> of sexual misconduct cases, noting that some are more serious than others.<ref name="Caron-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/arts/matt-damon-metoo-movement.html|title=Matt Damon Draws Rebukes for Comments on the #MeToo Movement|last=Caron|first=Christina|date=December 17, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070346/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/arts/matt-damon-metoo-movement.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Desta-2017" /><ref name="Guerrasio-2017" /> The comment caused offense to prominent members of the Me Too movement<ref name="Caron-2017" /><ref name="Helmore-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/minnie-driver-matt-damon-men-cannot-understand-abuse|title=Minnie Driver: men like Matt Damon 'cannot understand what abuse is like'|last=Helmore|first=Edward|date=December 17, 2017|work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104000834/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/minnie-driver-matt-damon-men-cannot-understand-abuse|url-status=live}}</ref> and the public for being "tone-deaf in understand[ing] what abuse is like".<ref name="Helmore-2017" /><ref name="Caron-2017" /> On January 17, 2018, Damon apologized on ''[[Today (American TV program)|The Today Show]]'' for his social commentary, stating that he "should get in the back seat and close [his] mouth for a while".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/entertainment/matt-damon-metoo/index.html|title=Matt Damon is done weighing in on #MeToo for a while|first=Sandra|last=Gonzalez|work=CNN|access-date=January 18, 2018|archive-date=January 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117221105/http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/entertainment/matt-damon-metoo/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><!--Please refrain from adding more specific contributions to this section as that often compromises the articles neutral point of view by overburdening the article.--><!--This is a living, breathing person folks. This article falls under the ''Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons'' standard. Consult it before adding anything controversial content with "a high degree of sensitivity".--> |
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In March 2018, Damon and Affleck announced they would adopt the [[inclusion rider]] agreement in all their future production deals through their company [[Pearl Street Films]].<ref>{{cite web |last=McNary |first=Dave |title=Matt Damon, Ben Affleck Will Support Inclusion Rider in Future Deals |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/matt-damon-ben-affleck-inclusion-rider-1202724988/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=July 23, 2018 |date=March 13, 2018 |archive-date=March 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324225503/https://variety.com/2018/film/news/matt-damon-ben-affleck-inclusion-rider-1202724988/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In August 2021, Damon sparked controversy after stating in an interview with ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' that he had only "months ago" stopped using the word "[[Faggot (slang)|fag]]", saying that it "was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."<ref>{{cite web|last=Dean|first=Jonathan|date=August 1, 2021|title=Is Matt Damon the last of Hollywood's leading men?|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/is-matt-damon-the-last-of-hollywoods-leading-men-gdh9bcwqd|access-date=January 10, 2022|website=thetimes.co.uk|archive-date=January 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110104510/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/is-matt-damon-the-last-of-hollywoods-leading-men-gdh9bcwqd|url-status=live}}</ref> This had come after an incident in which his daughter left the table due to his usage of the word and "wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous."<ref>{{cite web|last=Delbyck|first=Cole|date=August 1, 2021|title=Matt Damon Says Daughter Taught Him Not To Use 'F-Slur For A Homosexual' Months Ago|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-damon-daughter-homophobic-slur_n_6106d90ce4b0f9b5a234983f|access-date=August 20, 2021|website=HuffPost|archive-date=August 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802035713/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-damon-daughter-homophobic-slur_n_6106d90ce4b0f9b5a234983f|url-status=live}}</ref> He denied ever using the six-letter word "faggot" in his personal life, and, in regard to the word "fag": "I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in a movie of mine as recently as 2003... To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about the extent to which that word would have been painful to someone in the LGBTQ+ community regardless of how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values and desire for social justice."<ref>{{cite web|title=Matt Damon Insists He Never Used 'F-Slur': 'I Stand With the LGBTQ+ Community'|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/matt-damon-addresses-f-slur-1235032441/|access-date=August 2, 2021|website=Variety|date=August 2, 2021|archive-date=January 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110093000/https://variety.com/2021/film/news/matt-damon-addresses-f-slur-1235032441/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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== Awards and honors == |
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{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Matt Damon}} |
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Aside from [[List of awards and nominations received by Matt Damon|awards]] he has garnered for his role as an actor and producer, Damon became the 2,343rd person to receive a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] on July 25, 2007.<ref>{{cite news|first=Terri|last=Schwartz|url=http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2009/12/11/the-evolution-of-matt-damon-follow-the-invictus-actors-career-in-photos/|title=The Evolution Of Matt Damon: Follow The 'Invictus' Actor's Career In Photos|access-date=June 14, 2010|date=December 11, 2009|publisher=MTV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510114240/http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2009/12/11/the-evolution-of-matt-damon-follow-the-invictus-actors-career-in-photos/|archive-date=May 10, 2013}}</ref> He reacted to the award by 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."<ref name="FoxNews">{{cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]|title=Matt Damon Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/matt-damon-gets-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star|date=July 26, 2007|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207012035/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290888,00.html|archive-date=December 7, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px"> |
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File:MattDamonHWoFOct10.jpg|alt=Pink granite star on a black granite side-walk.|Matt Damon's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] |
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File:MattDamonGraumanHandFootprintsOct10.jpg|alt=Hand and foot prints in cement dated of June 6, 2007|Handprints and footprints of Damon in front of the [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] |
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</gallery> |
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== Notes == |
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{{reflist|group="nb"}} |
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== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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== Further reading == |
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* {{Cite book |last=Altman |first=Sheryl |title=Matt Damon & Ben Affleck: on and off screen |last2=Berk |first2=Sheryl |date=1998 |publisher=HarperCollins Pub |isbn=978-0-06-107145-4 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Bego |first=Mark |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm40338279 |title=Matt Damon: chasing a dream |date=1998 |publisher=Andrews McMeel |isbn=978-0-8362-7131-7 |location=Kansas City |oclc=ocm40338279}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Maxine |title=Matt Damon: a biography |last2=Hemmings |first2=Harriet |date=1998 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-0-671-02649-3 |location=New York}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Nickson |first=Chris |title=Matt Damon: an unauthorized biography |date=1999 |publisher=Renaissance Books |isbn=978-1-58063-072-6 |edition=1st |location=Los Angeles}} |
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== External links == |
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{{Commons category|Matt Damon}} |
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{{wikiquote|Matt Damon}} |
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*{{tvtome person|id=86335|name=Matt Damon}} |
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*[http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/matt-damon/1435473/main Matt Damon] on [[Moviefone]] |
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*[http://mattdamoncolumn.livejournal.com/ Matt Damon News Column] |
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*[http://www.greendimes.com/ GreenDimes] Matt Damon, board member |
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*[http://notonourwatchproject.org/ Not On Our Watch: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub] |
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*[http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=739034034 Matt Damon Interview] on [[The Hour]] with [[George Stroumboulopoulos]] |
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|NAME = Damon, Matt |
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|SHORT DESCRIPTION = Actor, Writer |
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|DATE OF BIRTH = October 8, 1970 |
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|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |
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Latest revision as of 13:28, 29 December 2024
Matt Damon | |
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Born | Matthew Paige Damon October 8, 1970 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Education | Harvard University (dropped out) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1987–present |
Works | Full list |
Spouse |
Luciana Bozán Barroso
(m. 2005) |
Children | 4 |
Awards | Full list |
Signature | |
Matthew Paige Damon (/ˈdeɪmən/ DAY-mən; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among Forbes' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Damon made his acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988) before gaining prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. He established himself as a leading man by starring as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002–2007; 2016), and Linus Caldwell in the Ocean's trilogy (2001–2007). He received a nomination for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for playing an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian (2015). He also acted in The Rainmaker (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Syriana (2005), The Departed (2006), The Informant! (2009), Invictus (2009), True Grit (2010), Contagion (2011), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Stillwater (2021), Air (2023), and Oppenheimer (2023), the last of which is his highest-grossing feature.
On television, Damon portrayed Scott Thorson in the HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra (2013), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. He was Emmy-nominated for his guest role in 30 Rock in 2011 and hosting Saturday Night Live in 2019. He also produced the reality series Project Greenlight (2001–2015) as well as the film Manchester by the Sea (2016). Damon has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films as well as established two production companies with Affleck, Artists Equity, and the former, Pearl Street Films. He has been involved in charitable work with organizations including the One Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, Feeding America, and Water.org.
Early life and education
Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 8, 1970,[1][2] the second son of Kent Telfer Damon (1942–2017), a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige (b. 1946), an early childhood education professor at Lesley University.[3][4][5] His father had English and Scottish ancestry, while his mother is of Finnish and Swedish descent; her family surname had been changed from Pajari to Paige.[6][7][8] Damon and his family moved to Newton for two years. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and he and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge,[4][9] where they lived in a six-family communal house.[10][11] His brother, Kyle, is a sculptor and artist.[4][12] Damon has said that, as a teenager, he had felt lonely, as if he did not belong,[10] and that his mother's by-the-book approach to child-rearing[10] had made it hard for him to define his own identity.[10]
Damon attended Cambridge Alternative School and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, and was a good student.[13] He acted in several high-school theater productions,[4] and has credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as having had an important artistic influence on him, although noting wryly that Speca had given Ben Affleck (Damon's close friend and schoolmate) the "biggest roles and longest speeches".[13][14][nb 1] He attended Harvard University as a member of the class of 1992, residing in Lowell House, but left before receiving his degree to take a lead role in the film Geronimo: An American Legend. While at Harvard, as an exercise for an English class, Damon wrote an essay in the form of a film treatment which was later developed into the screenplay Good Will Hunting (for which he received an Academy Award).[16] At Harvard, Damon was a member of the Delphic Club, one of the university's elite Final Clubs. In 2013, he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal.[17]
Career
1988–1999: Early work and breakthrough
Damon entered Harvard in 1988,[18][nb 2] where he appeared in student theater plays, such as Burn This and A... My Name is Alice.[20][21] Later, he made his film debut at the age of 18, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza.[22] As a student at Harvard, he acted in small roles such as in the TNT original film Rising Son and the ensemble prep-school drama School Ties.[23] He left the school in 1992, a semester (12 credits) shy of completing his Bachelor of Arts in English to feature in Geronimo: An American Legend[20][24] in Los Angeles, erroneously expecting the movie to become a big success.[20][nb 3] Damon next appeared as an opiate-addicted soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire, for which he lost 40 pounds (18 kg) in 100 days[22][26] on a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen. Courage Under Fire gained him critical notice, when The Washington Post labeled his performance "impressive".[27]
During the early 1990s, Damon and Affleck wrote Good Will Hunting (1997), a screenplay about a young mathematics genius, an extension of a screenplay he wrote for an assignment at Harvard, having integrated advice from director Rob Reiner, screenwriter William Goldman, and writer/director Kevin Smith.[28] He asked Affleck to perform the scenes with him in front of the class and, when Damon later moved into Affleck's Los Angeles apartment, they began working on the script more seriously.[29] The film, which they wrote mainly during improvisation sessions, was set partly in their hometown of Cambridge, and drew from their own experiences.[30][31] They sold the screenplay to Castle Rock in 1994, but after a conflict with the company, they convinced Miramax to purchase the script.[32][33] The film received critical praise; Quentin Curtis of The Daily Telegraph found "real wit and vigour, and some depth" in their writing and Emanuel Levy of Variety wrote that Damon "gives a charismatic performance in a demanding role that's bound to catapult him to stardom. Perfectly cast, he makes the aching, step-by-step transformation of Will realistic and credible."[34][35] It received nine Academy Awards nominations, including Best Actor for Damon; he and Affleck won the Oscar and Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.[36] He and Affleck were each paid salaries of $600,000, while the film grossed over $225 million at the worldwide box office.[37][38] The two later parodied their roles from the film in Kevin Smith's 2001 movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.[39]
Speaking of his "overnight success" through Good Will Hunting, Damon said by that time he had been working in the cinema for 11 years, but still found the change "nearly indescribable—going from total obscurity to walking down a street in New York and having everybody turn and look".[40] Before the film, Damon played the lead in the critically acclaimed drama The Rainmaker (1997), where he was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom."[41] For the role, Damon regained most of the weight he had lost for Courage Under Fire.[42] After meeting Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting, director Steven Spielberg cast him in the brief title role in the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan.[43] He co-starred with Edward Norton in the 1998 poker film Rounders, where he plays a reformed gambler in law school who must return to playing high-stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. Despite meager earnings at the box-office, it is considered one of the best poker movies of all time.[44]
Damon then portrayed antihero Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a role for which he lost 11 kilograms (25 lb). Damon said that he wanted to display his character's humanity and honesty on screen despite his criminal actions.[45] An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of same name, the film costarred Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cate Blanchett, and received praise from critics.[46] "Damon outstandingly conveys his character's slide from innocent enthusiasm into cold calculation", according to Variety magazine.[47] In Dogma (1999), he played a fallen angel who discusses pop culture as intellectual subject matter with Affleck's character.[48] The film received generally positive reviews, but proved controversial among religious groups who deemed it blasphemous.[49]
2000–2008: Worldwide recognition
In 2000, Damon, Affleck, and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey founded the production company LivePlanet to create the Emmy-nominated documentary series Project Greenlight, which aimed to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers.[50][51] Among the company's projects was the short-lived mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada.[52]
Damon's attempts at leading characters in romantic dramas such as 2000's All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance were commercially and critically unsuccessful.[37] Variety said of his work in All the Pretty Horses: "[Damon] just doesn't quite seem like a young man who's spent his life amidst the dust and dung of a Texas cattle ranch. Nor does he strike any sparks with [Penelope] Cruz."[53] He was similarly deemed "uncomfortable being the center" of Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance by Peter Rainer of New York magazine.[54]
During this period, Damon joined two lucrative film series—Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and Bourne (2002–2016)—and produced the television series Project Greenlight (2001–2005, 2015). He co-starred as thief Linus Caldwell in the former's first installment, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 ensemble film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the Rat Pack's Ocean's 11 (1960).[22] The role was originally meant for Mark Wahlberg, who refused it in favor of other projects.[55] The film grossed $450 million on a budget of $83 million.[56] Damon, alongside Affleck and others, produced the documentary series Project Greenlight, aired on HBO and later Bravo, which helped newcomers develop their first film. The series was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004, and 2005.[57] Damon later said that he and Affleck felt proud that the show helped launch the careers of several directors; Damon later served as the executive producer of a number of projects directed by the winners of the show.[58]
Damon began 2002 with writing and starring in Gerry, a drama about two friends who forget to bring water and food when they go hiking in a desert. The reviews for the film were generally positive, but it was a box-office failure.[59][60] He then played amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in Doug Liman's action thriller The Bourne Identity (2002). Liman considered several actors for the role before he cast Damon.[61] Damon insisted on performing many of the stunts himself, undergoing three months of extensive training in stunt work, the use of weapons, boxing, and eskrima.[62] Damon said that before The Bourne Identity he was jobless for six months, and many of his films during that period under-performed at the box-office. He doubted the film's financial prospects, but it proved a commercial success.[60] Reviews for the film were also positive;[63] Roger Ebert praised it for its ability to absorb the viewer in its "spycraft" and "Damon's ability to be focused and sincere".[64] For his role, Entertainment Weekly named Damon among "the decade's best mixer of brawn and brains."[65]
Damon voiced the role of Spirit in the animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and later played a conjoined twin in Stuck on You (2003), which received a mixed critical reception.[66] His major releases in 2004 included starring roles in the sequels The Bourne Supremacy and Ocean's Twelve. Both films earned more than $280 million at the box-office.[67][68] In a review for The Bourne Supremacy, BBC's Nev Pierce called the film "a brisk, engrossing and intelligent thriller", adding, "Damon is one hell of an action hero. He does a lot with very little, imbuing his limited dialogue with both rage and sorrow, looking harder and more haunted as the picture progresses".[69] For the film, he earned an Empire Award for Best Actor; the award's presenter Empire attributed Damon's win to his "astute, underplayed performance, through which he totally eschews movie star vanity".[70] He played a fictionalized version of Wilhelm Grimm alongside Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm (2005), which was a critically panned commercial failure;[37] The Washington Post concluded, "Damon, constantly flashing his newscaster's teeth and flaunting a fake, 'Masterpiece Theatre' dialect, comes across like someone who got lost on the way to an audition for a high school production of The Pirates of Penzance."[71]
Later in 2005, he appeared as an energy analyst in the geopolitical thriller Syriana alongside George Clooney and Jeffrey Wright.[72] The film focuses on petroleum politics and the global influence of the oil industry. Damon says starring in the film broadened his understanding of the oil industry and that he hoped the people would talk about the film afterward.[73] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was mainly impressed with Clooney's acting, but also found Damon's performance "whiplash".[74] In 2006, Damon joined Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd as a career CIA agent, and played an undercover mobster working for the Massachusetts State Police in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs.[22] Assessing his work in the two films, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that Damon has the unique "ability to recede into a film while also being fully present, a recessed intensity, that distinguishes how he holds the screen."[75] The Departed received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.[76][nb 4]
According to Forbes in August 2007, Damon was the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, his last three films at that time averaged US$29 at the box office for every dollar he earned.[77] Two of his major releases in 2007 were the films Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum, which were the third installments of their respective film series. Both films earned more than $300 million at the box-office.[78][79] Damon had an uncredited cameo in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth (2007) and another cameo in the 2008 Che Guevara biopic Che.[80][81] While he was working on the Bourne films, Damon declined an offer from James Cameron to star in his upcoming film Avatar, as he did not want to break his Bourne contract. Cameron offered Damon 10% of the profits for the film, which went on to become the most successful of all time. Damon said later: "I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money."[82]
2009–2019: Established actor
He made a guest appearance in 2009 on the sixth-season finale of Entourage as himself, where he tries to pressure Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) into donating to his real foundation ONEXONE.[83][84] His next role was Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy The Informant! (2009),[85] in which his Golden Globe-nominated work was described by Entertainment Weekly as such: "The star – who has quietly and steadily turned into a great Everyman actor – is in nimble control as he reveals his character's deep crazies."[86] Also in 2009, Damon portrayed South Africa national rugby union team captain François Pienaar in the Clint Eastwood-directed film Invictus, which is based on the 2008 John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation and features Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.[87] Invictus earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The New Republic observed that he brought "it off with low-key charm and integrity."[88] Damon also lent his voice to the English version of the animated film Ponyo, which was released in the United States in August 2009.[89]
In March 2010, Damon and Ben Affleck collaborated once again to create another production company titled Pearl Street Films, a Warner Bros.-based production company.[90][91] That year, he reunited with director Paul Greengrass, who directed him in the Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, for the action thriller Green Zone, which flopped commercially[92] and received a score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and ambivalent reception from critics.[93] He appeared as a guest star in an episode of Arthur, titled "The Making of Arthur", as himself.[12] During season 5 of 30 Rock, he appeared as a guest star in the role of Liz Lemon's boyfriend in the episodes "I Do Do", "The Fabian Strategy", "Live Show", and "Double-edged Sword". Damon's 2010 projects included Clint Eastwood's Hereafter and the Coen brothers' remake of the 1969 John Wayne-starring Western True Grit.[94] He also narrated Inside Job, a documentary film about the effects of financial deregulation in the 2007–2008 financial crisis.[95]
In 2010, he was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, ranking 37th.[96] In 2011, he starred in The Adjustment Bureau, Contagion, and We Bought a Zoo. That same year, the documentary which he narrated, American Teacher, opened in New York before national screening.[97] Also in 2011, he voiced a krill named Bill in the animated film Happy Feet Two.[98] In January 2012, Damon signed a multiyear deal to be the voice of TD Ameritrade advertisements, replacing Sam Waterston as the discount brokerage's spokesman. Damon donated all fees from the advertisements to charity.[99] In April 2012, Damon filmed Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant, which Damon co-wrote with John Krasinski.[100][101][102] Damon's next film with frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh was Behind the Candelabra, a drama about the life of pianist/entertainer Liberace (played by Michael Douglas) with Damon playing Liberace's longtime partner Scott Thorson. The film premiered on HBO on May 26, 2013.[103]
Damon starred in the science fiction film Elysium (2013), where he played former car-thief-turned-factory-worker Max DeCosta.[104] He also appeared in the science fiction movie The Zero Theorem in 2013, directed by Terry Gilliam.[105] That same year, Damon appeared in a 20-second advertisement for Nespresso, directed by Grant Heslov, with whom he worked on The Monuments Men. The deal earned him $3 million.[106] Damon also provided voice-over for United Airlines' resurrected "Fly the Friendly Skies" advertisement campaign in 2013.[107] In 2014, he starred in George Clooney's The Monuments Men,[108] and played the minor role of scientist Dr. Mann in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. That same year, Damon appeared as a celebrity correspondent for Years of Living Dangerously.[109]
In 2015, Damon portrayed the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, in Ridley Scott's The Martian, based on Andy Weir's bestselling novel of the same name, a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Having not returned for the fourth film in the Bourne film series,[110][111] Damon reprised his role in 2016's Jason Bourne, reuniting with Paul Greengrass. In 2017, Damon played the lead role in Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, a hit internationally and a disappointment at the domestic box office. The film, and Damon's casting, were not well received by critics.[112][113][114] Later in 2017, he starred in two satires, George Clooney's 1950s-set Suburbicon, which was released in October,[115] and Alexander Payne's comedy Downsizing, which was released in December.[116] In September 2018, he portrayed jurist Brett Kavanaugh on the late night sketch series Saturday Night Live.[117] In 2019, Damon portrayed Carroll Shelby in the action biographical drama Ford v Ferrari, directed by James Mangold.[118]
2021–present: Continued positive critical reception
As of 2021[update], the films in which he had appeared had collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North American box office.[119] In 2021, Damon starred in Tom McCarthy's crime drama Stillwater, playing an unemployed oil rig worker from Oklahoma who sets out with a French woman to prove his convicted daughter's innocence. The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. IndieWire praised Damon's performance as "graced with a quiet softness that offsets the sheer volume of the character he's playing".[120] That same year saw the release of the historical drama The Last Duel, which he starred in and co-wrote alongside Ben Affleck. The film, set in medieval France and based on the book of the same name, focuses on the true story of a knight, Jean de Carrouges, portrayed by Damon, who challenges his former friend to a judicial duel after he's accused of raping his wife. It premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and earned positive reviews while being a financial failure at the box office.[121]
In 2023, Damon starred as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in Air, a drama film about the launch of Air Jordan, co-starring and directed by Affleck.[122] It marked the first release from Affleck and Damon's independent production company, Artists Equity, which they had formed in 2022.[123] He also reunited with Christopher Nolan in the biographical film Oppenheimer,[124] playing Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project.[125][126] The film was a critical and commercial success.[127] Damon will work with Nolan once again on The Odyssey.[128][129]
Activism
Damon, alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub, is one of the founders of Not On Our Watch Project, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in Darfur.[130] Damon supports One Campaign, which is aimed at fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising. He is an ambassador for ONEXONE, a nonprofit foundation committed to supporting, preserving, and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world.[131]
Damon is a spokesperson for Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization, and a member of their Entertainment Council, participating in their Ad Council public service announcements.[132] He is a board member of Tonic Mailstopper (formerly GreenDimes), a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day.[133][nb 5] Damon was the founder of the H2O Africa Foundation, the charitable arm of the Running the Sahara expedition,[135] which merged with WaterPartners to create Water.org in July 2009.[136] Water.org has partnered with corporate sponsors to promote awareness and raise funds to support its mission of bringing safe, clean, cost-effective drinking water and sanitation to developing countries.[137] In this context, Damon has been the face of advertising campaigns to promote Water.org in conjunction with products from major sponsors.
In October 2011, Water.org received an $8 million grant from the PepsiCo Foundation to scale up WaterCredit, which provides microloans to families throughout India.[138] Damon has been part of promoting those efforts, tying in with the Aquafina and Ethos Water brands of bottled water owned by PepsiCo and Starbucks.[139][140] Since 2015, Damon has promoted Anheuser-Busch InBev's Stella Artois beer brand as a Water.org partner, including the sale of limited-edition "blue chalice" glasses imprinted with an embellished blue version of the brand's logo.[141][142] In a television advertisement made for broadcast during the 2018 Super Bowl of the United States' National Football League (NFL), he promoted Water.org and Stella Artois's role in supporting its work.[143]
In October 2021, he announced a new partnership with the cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com, under which Crypto.com was to make a $1 million donation to Water.org. In the announcement, Damon said, "Crypto.com gave us this great donation, which is amazing. The money that I make for the commercials to promote them, I give 100% of that to Water.org as well. So, it's millions of dollars coming in to us."[144][145] Damon's Crypto.com commercial[146] started rolling out in cinemas late in 2021, and then on television in January 2022, mainly during sports programming such as NFL games. Once it was broadcast widely on television, it sparked much criticism, as did its accompanying "making of" featurette.[147] In The Independent, Nathan Place wrote, "Twitter is cringing after a TV commercial starring Matt Damon compared trading cryptocurrency to mankind's greatest achievements. In the ad, which aired during Sunday night’s NFL games, Mr Damon makes an abstract plug for crypto.com – a platform for exchanging digital currencies like Bitcoin – while striding past images of explorers and astronauts.[148] The New Zealand Herald published an article by Lexie Cartwright summing up viewer reaction: "Matt Damon's new commercial plugging cryptocurrency has been absolutely savaged on social media, with viewers dubbing it 'insulting' and 'disgusting'." The story included a series of tweets, among them one by Carole Cadwalladr of The Observer in which she wrote, "There isn't enough yuck in the world to describe Matt Damon advertising a Ponzi scheme and comparing it to the moon landings."[149] Jody Rosen in the New York Times said that "There is something unseemly, to put it mildly, about the famous and fabulously wealthy urging crypto on their fans" and "The bleakness of that pitch is startling."[150]
Filmography
Public image
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has a running gag on his ABC television show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he apologizes for not being able to interview Damon at the end of each show. It culminated in a planned skit on September 12, 2006, when Damon stormed off after having his interview cut short.[151] Damon appeared in several of E! Entertainment's top ten Jimmy Kimmel Live! spoofs.[152][nb 6] On January 24, 2013, Damon took over his show and mentioned the long-standing feud and having been bumped from years of shows. It involved celebrities who were previously involved in the "feud", including Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, and Sarah Silverman.[155]
Personal life
Damon met his Argentine wife, Luciana Bozán, while filming Stuck on You in Miami in April 2003.[156][157] They became engaged in September 2005 and married in a private civil ceremony at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau on December 9, 2005. They have three daughters together born in June 2006,[158] August 2008,[159] and October 2010.[160] He also has a stepdaughter Alexia Barroso (born 1998) from Bozán's previous marriage, and considers her to be his own.[161][162][163]
The couple has lived in Miami and New York City;[164] and since 2012, they have lived in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles.[165] In 2018, Damon bought a luxury penthouse in New York City's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood for $16.5 million.[166]
He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox.[167] After the team won the 2007 World Series, he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event.[168] He has competed in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events,[169][170] including the 2010 World Series of Poker main event.[171] He was eliminated from the 1998 WSOP by poker professional Doyle Brunson.[172]
Political and social views
While discussing the Iraq War on Hardball with Chris Matthews in December 2006, Damon expressed concern about inequities across socioeconomic classes with regard to who is tasked with the responsibility of fighting wars.[173]
In an interview with the Sunday Herald in January 2003, Damon expressed his support for Gun control with "I actually hate guns. They freak me out."[174]
Damon is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and has made several critical attacks on Republican Party figures. However, he also expressed disappointment over the policies of President Barack Obama.[175][176] He had a working relationship with the Obama administration, primarily due to his friendship with Jason Furman, his former Harvard roommate who became Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors to Obama.[177] In 2012, Damon joined Ben Affleck and John Krasinski in hosting a fundraiser for Democratic Senate nominee Elizabeth Warren.[178] Damon endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[179][180]
In October and December 2017, Damon made headlines when he made a series of comments regarding the Me Too movement against sexual harassment and misconduct. On October 10, Sharon Waxman, a former reporter for The New York Times, mentioned that Damon and Russell Crowe had made direct phone calls to her to vouch for the head of Miramax Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo. In her report, she suspected Lombardo of facilitating incidents of Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct in Europe.[181][182][183] However, Damon clarified later that the calls were solely to reassure her of Lombardo's professional qualifications in the film industry.[184] Waxman endorsed Damon's statement on Twitter hours later.[185] Also during this time, Damon said that he had heard a story from Ben Affleck that Gwyneth Paltrow, a co-worker on a feature film of his, had been harassed by Weinstein in 1996, but thought "she had handled it" because they continued to work together, and Weinstein "treated her incredibly respectfully".[186][187]
In another series of interviews during December 2017, Damon advocated for a "spectrum of behavior" analysis[188][189][190][191] of sexual misconduct cases, noting that some are more serious than others.[192][190][191] The comment caused offense to prominent members of the Me Too movement[192][193] and the public for being "tone-deaf in understand[ing] what abuse is like".[193][192] On January 17, 2018, Damon apologized on The Today Show for his social commentary, stating that he "should get in the back seat and close [his] mouth for a while".[194]
In March 2018, Damon and Affleck announced they would adopt the inclusion rider agreement in all their future production deals through their company Pearl Street Films.[195]
In August 2021, Damon sparked controversy after stating in an interview with The Sunday Times that he had only "months ago" stopped using the word "fag", saying that it "was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."[196] This had come after an incident in which his daughter left the table due to his usage of the word and "wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous."[197] He denied ever using the six-letter word "faggot" in his personal life, and, in regard to the word "fag": "I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in a movie of mine as recently as 2003... To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about the extent to which that word would have been painful to someone in the LGBTQ+ community regardless of how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values and desire for social justice."[198]
Awards and honors
Aside from awards he has garnered for his role as an actor and producer, Damon became the 2,343rd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 25, 2007.[199] He reacted to the award by 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."[200]
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Matt Damon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Handprints and footprints of Damon in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Notes
- ^ Another neighbor of Damon's was historian and author Howard Zinn,[15] 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 later narrated.[11]
- ^ He lived in Matthews Hall and then Lowell House[19]
- ^ "By the time I figured out I had made the wrong decision, it was too late. I was living out here with a bunch of actors, and we were all scrambling to make ends meet," he has said.[25]
- ^ Box Office Mojo ranked it seventh amongst his films.[37]
- ^ 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% 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."[134][better source needed]
- ^ On January 31, 2008, Kimmel aired a clip of his then girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman, singing a song entitled "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" in which Damon appeared.[152][153] Kimmel responded on February 24, 2008, with his music video which said that he was "fucking Ben Affleck". It featured Affleck along with several other actors.[152] Another encounter, titled "The Handsome Men's Club", featured Kimmel, along with handsome actors and musicians. At the end of the skit, Kimmel had a door slammed in his face by Damon, who said that they had run out of time, followed by a sinister laugh.[152][154]
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But now, as the father of four daughters[...]
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Further reading
- Altman, Sheryl; Berk, Sheryl (1998). Matt Damon & Ben Affleck: on and off screen (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins Pub. ISBN 978-0-06-107145-4.
- Bego, Mark (1998). Matt Damon: chasing a dream. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel. ISBN 978-0-8362-7131-7. OCLC 40338279.
- Diamond, Maxine; Hemmings, Harriet (1998). Matt Damon: a biography. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-02649-3.
- Nickson, Chris (1999). Matt Damon: an unauthorized biography (1st ed.). Los Angeles: Renaissance Books. ISBN 978-1-58063-072-6.
External links
- Matt Damon at IMDb
- Matt Damon at the TCM Movie Database
- Matt Damon at People.com
- Matt Damon
- 1970 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Film producers from Massachusetts
- American male film actors
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- American male voice actors
- American people of English descent
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- American people of Swedish descent
- American philanthropists
- Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
- Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
- Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
- Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni
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- Male actors from Boston
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- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners