Biography of Matt Damon
Matthew Page Damon is a renowned Hollywood actor, best known for his roles in the action-packed Ocean's Trilogy and the series of films about special agent Jason Bourne. At the beginning of his career, he actively starred in Kevin Smith's films (Dogma, Chasing Amy). Together with his best friend Ben Affleck, the actor created the outstanding film Good Will Hunting, which won an Oscar in the 1998 category for Best Screenplay.
Matt Damon
Actor Matt Damon
- Actors
24/10/2014
Anna Savchenko
230
Matt Damon is one of the brightest representatives of the star elite. Crowds of fans around the world exalted him to the level of a celestial being, although the actor himself never considered himself special. In everyday life, he wears an oversized T-shirt and jeans, plays with his children and still declares his love to his wife. Off the set, Matt transforms from a brutal handsome man and heartthrob into a loving husband and father.
— I never considered myself a star. There are people who are already born stars. For example, people like George Clooney. It’s simply impossible to take your eyes off him. What about me? I'm boring, no, probably even tedious. And still married. Even the yellow publications are not interested in me, what can I do?
This is how the actor himself speaks modestly about himself. In fact, he is a favorite of directors, producers and the film public. What is the secret of popularity? What makes Matt Damon films so popular?
Matt decided to become an actor in his youth. He saw no other road except this one. When Damon expressed his desire to his parents, they did not approve of the guy’s choice, but they did not force him to stay.
“My mother and father divorced when I was very young. My brother (now a famous sculptor) and I were raised by our mother. When I told them that I wanted to go to New York for a casting, they looked at me like I was an idiot and almost unanimously said: “You can go, but you’ll have to find the money yourself.” At that time I had 200 bucks in my piggy bank. What about me? Having packed my bags, I set off to follow my dream...
Matt Damon photo #2
Matt always talks about his childhood and family with love. At the same time, even his face somehow changes. The look becomes soft and the voice becomes slightly muffled. By the way, Ben Affleck is a distant relative of Matt. They began to be friends since childhood and they also climbed to the starry Olympus together, helping each other. Their first collaboration was the script for the film “Good Will Hunting.” Having finished the script, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck began implementing the project, but they were in no hurry to buy their script.
The guys received refusal after refusal. And they refused only because the scriptwriters insisted that the film should be made with their participation. The only ones who agreed to these conditions were the representatives, and they made the right decision. The film became available to the general public in 1997 and brought the creators an Oscar in the category for best low-budget screenplay. Box office receipts and ratings exceeded all expectations of the project participants. Just like that, suddenly, Matt Damon became a star.
Films starring Matt Damon are gaining popularity. The actor begins to actively film. His minimum is 3 projects per year and this is far from the limit. Work, work, work and nothing but work, it would seem, when to live? And then... It's 2003. Matt practically gave his consent to participate in the filming of one film, and had almost signed a contract, when the well-known Forelli brothers began to dissuade him from this idea.
They tried by hook or by crook to lure Matt into their project “Stuck on You.” Matt couldn't resist. One of the key points was the brothers' argument about the warm climate of the place where they plan to film.
Matt Damon photo #3
- "- And where is? - To Miami! “I’m getting my swimming trunks!” — this is approximately what our dialogue looked like. And you know, this choice became fateful. It was during this shoot, and it was in Miami that I met the love of my life - Luciana. It is incredibly beautiful, simple and reliable. There is not an ounce of falseness in her like in Hollywood beauties. To this day, remembering our meeting, my heart is ready to jump out of my chest. Well, wasn't it fate that brought me together with her? Exactly she! I believe in fate, and my faith has been justified. And I am truly grateful that I was lucky enough to meet such a person.
This is how actor Matt Damon met his soulmate. And this is just the beginning. In his daily life, Matt is surrounded by women. In addition to his wife, his family has 4 more daughters, one of whom is from Luciana’s first marriage. The actor himself always speaks very kindly about his relationships in the family.
— My wife and I came up with the “2-week rule.” This means that I never leave the house for more than 2 weeks. If filming takes longer, then we all pack our things together (and you can’t even imagine how many there are!) and go to my work. This rule is followed unconditionally in order to avoid unnecessary scenes with a dramatic scenario. After all, there is already a lot of tears, sorrows and regrets around. I am ready to do anything to make my family happy!
As the actor himself admits, he is really happy. Next to him are his beloved women, whom he can rely on. He is also lucky because he has as many as 4 daughters. At the age of 44, he found peace of mind, avoiding the age crisis. He was spared the terrible, all-consuming star fever and all the consequences associated with it. Matt understands perfectly well that he is an actor only on screen, but in life he is a breadwinner and father.
Matt Damon photo #4
And again about work. It is worth noting that this actor has a very impressive filmography. It's no secret that all films with Matt's participation are 100% hits. I would like to note the following works of the actor: “Dogma”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”, “The Brothers Grimm”, “The Departed”, “Ocean’s 12” and “True Grit”. This list can be continued indefinitely, constantly expanding it with new equally spectacular works.
On October 14, 2014, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon began a joint television project for cable TV called "Incorporated." The filming date has not yet been set, and the plot is kept in the strictest confidence. The star tandem serves as executive producers. Let's wish them luck and look forward to the drama's release.
Matt Daymond is a talented actor, a promising director and producer, an Oscar winner and just a diligent family man. It's a pleasure to watch him. Films with his participation always bring only positive emotions. He can safely be included in the Red Book as an endangered species “Real man.” How many more works will he present to us? Look forward to!
Video trailer for the film with Matt Damon “ELYSIUM: HEAVEN ON EARTH”
2 comments
- Film "The Bourne Ultimatum" | Around the Stars
09/04/2015 / Reply
[…] Matt Damon […]
- Movie "Good Will Hunting" | Around the Stars
09/04/2015 / Reply
[…] Matt Damon […]
Add a comment Cancel reply
Matt Damon's childhood
Matt spent the first two years of his life in Cambridge, near Boston. His father, Kent Teflor Damon, worked at the stock exchange, his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, taught at a local university, and his faithful playmate was his three-year older brother Kyle. As soon as the boy celebrated his second birthday, his parents separated, and from now on Nancy was forced to raise the children alone, although the sons maintained friendly relations with their father and his new family.
Matt Damon as a child
According to Matt, his mother turned out to be a real fortune teller. She always knew that Matt would become an actor, while the woman predicted a career for Kyle as an artist or sculptor, although she never told her sons about her guesses. But their fate turned out exactly as she expected.
Matt Damon's Parents: Nancy and Kent
Matt himself, who was a very persistent and stubborn kid, didn’t even think about acting as a child. At the age of 6, he suddenly wanted to become a basketball player and tormented those around him with requests to throw the ball into the hoop with him. Then the father came to the boy and told his son not to bother his head with nonsense, because in the Damon family few people grew to at least 160 centimeters, and with sports training things were even worse. After much persuasion, little Damon forgot about his dream.
Meet Ben Affleck
At the age of 14, Matt began communicating with a neighbor boy, Ben, who lived a couple of blocks from the Damon family home. It was truly a fateful meeting. Although Affleck was two years younger than Matt, this did not stop the boys from building a sincere friendship, which later grew into a fruitful creative union.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's friendship has stood the test of time
Ben Affleck made his film debut very early - at the age of 8. He also infected his bosom friend with the desire to get on the big screen. Together they began going to the school theater club, and two years after they met, the boys emptied their piggy banks and bought two tickets to New York, secretly going to the Mickey Mouse Show competition for young talents, secretly from their parents. But, alas, they did not make it past the first round and returned home in frustration, where Matt was already awaiting a beating from his parents.
Until the end of school, the teenagers spent time lounging around Ben's house, drinking beer, writing and performing short skits, and going on auditions - a couple of times they even got a role in the crowd.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in their youth
At this point, Matt slightly curbed his desire to become an actor. Ben went to look for happiness, great roles and huge fees in New York, and Matt got busy preparing for college and entered Harvard, the English department.
Luciana Barroso
Luciana Barroso and Matt Damon
Luciana Barroso met her future husband Matt Damon at work. The girl was working as a waitress in a bar in Miami when a Hollywood actor walked in. Matt wanted to hide behind the bar so as not to attract attention to himself. At that moment, Luciana walked away somewhere.
“When she returned, she asked, “What the hell do you want here?”, because at that moment I was standing at her workplace. And I swear to God, at that moment something happened to me. Something incredible when I saw her for the first time,” Damon later said about this meeting in an interview. The lovers got married in 2005. They are still happy together and have four children.
Acting career of Matt Damon. First roles
In his free time, Matt attended screenwriting courses, and in his first year he was lucky - he got a tiny role with one line in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza. At the 87th minute, his hero said: “Mom, do you want my green thing?” Then there was a slightly larger role - a sports commentator in the drama “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Coster.
After this, Damon revived his forgotten dream of becoming an actor and confronted his parents with a fait accompli - he was going to New York to try his luck at auditions. His parents informed him that he could not count on their help, and Matt set off with meager savings of $200.
Having reunited in New York, the friends again began to look for an outlet for their irrepressible energy, but were only able to find work in advertising for TJ Maxx supermarkets. In 1989, the young actor starred in the film “The Son is a Rising Star” and firmly decided to leave Harvard.
Young Matt Damon
Who knows how much effort it took Matt not to ruin his relationship with his parents, who were, to put it mildly, not happy about his action. But just a year later, he and his friend landed leading roles in the film School Ties, along with other aspiring actors: Chris O'Donnell and Brendan Fraser. A few months later, Matt got the role of Lieutenant Davis in the box office failure of the western Geronimo: An American Legend.
Matt Damon's first serious role (School Ties)
In 1996, two diametrically opposed films starring Matt Damon were released: the student comedy “Splash of Glory,” which grossed a measly $15,000, and the war drama “Courage in Action,” for which Matt lost 40 pounds. However, the efforts were not in vain, because after the premiere, critics called Matt a real breakthrough of the year.
Matt Damon lost 20 kilograms for the filming of Courage in Fight
Very soon he had the honor of starring alongside Danny DeVito in the thriller “The Benefactor.” His character, a young lawyer Rudy Baylor, was disillusioned with the profession, but fate gave him an extremely dangerous chance to instantly achieve success. As filming progressed, he again had to gain back the kilograms he lost during the filming of Courage in Battle.
“The Benefactor”: Matt Damon played a gifted lawyer
Matt Damon's career
23. Matt began to have his first acting experience at the age of 10, while studying at the Rindge & Latin school. Together with Affleck, they participated in many theatrical productions.
24. The guy got his first movie role at the age of 18. It was the film “Mystical Pizza”, where the already famous Julia Roberts starred. In the film he only spoke one line.
25. He showed a more developed acting game in the next cameo role of a sports commentator in the film “Field of His Dreams.”
26. Real fame came to the actor after the film “Good Will Hunting,” for which he wrote the script together with Ben Affleck. It was a very good decision. The script was purchased by Miramax for $1 million after Castlerock bought it for $600,000 and then refused to make the film due to disagreements with the writers.
27. Ben's father worked as a janitor at Harvard, while having an extraordinary mentality. This fact inspired the guys to write a script based on these events from Ben’s life.
28. This film was eventually nominated for as many as 9 Academy Film Awards, but won only two of them. One for the original screenplay, the second for Best Actor.
29. In 1998, the actor was recognized as the sexiest man alive according to People magazine.
30. A couple of years later, Damon is invited to play a role in the film “Courage in Battle.” He played a war veteran and a drug addict, so in order to fit in and fit the image he had to lose almost 20 kg.
31. Next he had a role in the film “Saving Private Ryan” and Tom Hansk at first thought that Matt was too thin to portray this character. But he soon changed his mind.
- A complete chronology of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the order in which the films were released on the big screen.
32. For his role in the film “The Talented Mister Ripley,” the actor needed to learn to play the piano and lose 13 kg.
33. The film received six nominations, but did not win any of the awards.
34. The next tandem of Damon and Affleck helped aspiring screenwriters. They became producers of the Greenlight Project, which received several Emmy nominations for reality television.
35. In 2001, he starred in the crime comedy Ocean's Eleven as a talented "plucker".
36. In a year, the first part of the series of films about Jason Bourne will start. But the film did not achieve high ratings and fame. Maximum box office receipts amounted to $214 million, although film critics responded positively to the film; its rating among critics received more than 83% positive recommendations.
37. In 2004, two sensational films were released again: a continuation of the story about a mysterious CIA agent and the criminal adventures of Ocean's friends only with +1 people.
38. The next serious picture that cannot be kept silent about is the Renegades. Great cast, incredible atmosphere of the film and, of course, the plot itself. What else can you expect from the legendary M. Scorsese.
39. This was followed by the next parts of Bourne and the adventures of a dashing dozen criminal talents, and in between roles in films that were less popular, but no less significant for the actor’s career.
40. In 2010, Perl Street Productions was created together with Affleck and Chris Moore.
41. Of Damon's latest works, The Martian stands out. The actor received two significant awards for the high-quality performance of the hero of this film adaptation of Andy Weir’s work of the same name.
The Birth of Good Will Hunting
The script for one of the most iconic films of the 90s was born in a couple of evenings. Matt Damon helped Ben Affleck with his homework - he was asked to write an essay on a free topic in college. After reading their joint twenty-page creation, the literature teacher laughingly told Affleck that no one would ever read such nonsense, and returned his job.
Matt Damon became a legend after Good Will Hunting
A couple of years later, the Miramax film studio released a film that, with a budget of $10 million, grossed $225 million worldwide, won two Oscars (one went to friends for best screenplay, and the second went to Robin Williams for best actor) with nine nominations. After the premiere, the press immediately dubbed Matt Damon “the ruler of women’s hearts.”
A year later, Matt Damon played Steven Spielberg in the drama Saving Private Ryan. Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore and Jeremy Davis tried to bring Matt Damon home to ease his mother's pain from losing her three eldest sons at once. The film won 5 Oscars and was named the highest-grossing film of 1998.
Still from the film "Saving Private Ryan"
Almost simultaneously, the film “Rounders” starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton was released. The crime thriller was rated quite well, but in comparison with “Private Ryan” it went almost unnoticed.
In 1999, viewers saw the actor in the films “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Dogma” by Kevin Smith. The first film introduced Matt Damon as a true master of disguise - he had to play a man who plays another man.
Still from the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley”
The second film was his benefit performance with his best friend, Ben Affleck. They played the fallen angels Loki and Bartleby, who endangered all human existence.
“Dogma”: Matt Damon as the angel Loki
During this period, Matt admitted, his career developed so rapidly that sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night and wondered: why was he so lucky?
The next landmark work with Damon's participation was released in 2001. Matt was one of eleven specialists hired by George Clooney's character for the most daring casino robbery in human history. Damon's character is a young pickpocket Linus Caldwell. Subsequently (in 2004 and 2007) the film received a sequel, which won great love among viewers around the world.
Matt Damon wears glasses
At the same time, filming was underway for another major project, “The Bourne Identity.” This film about an amnesiac FBI agent literally revived interest in the spy thriller genre. Already on the third day after the premiere, Matt Damon received about 30 job offers.
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
Two years later, the creators released the film “The Bourne Supremacy,” and a little later, “The Bourne Ultimatum.” The film also has a spin-off starring Jeremy Renner.
Matt Damon on the set of Bourne
A year later, several successful films starring Damon appeared on the screens. These are the detective drama “The Departed” by Martin Scorsese and “The False Temptation” by Robert De Niro. Filming took place in parallel, so the actor needed a lot of strength to quickly change from one image to another.
In 2014, he appeared in the cast of the science fiction film Interstellar, starring Matthew McConaughey. Damon's character turned out to be very insidious.
Still from the movie "Interstellar"
It is not known whether this came out on purpose or not, but a year later Matt appeared as the complete opposite of his hero from “Interstellar” in another “space” film – “The Martian”. As a result of an accident at the station, Mark Watney was forgotten on Mars. While waiting for a rescue expedition, he began to settle on a deserted and deadly planet for humans. Matt Damon was even nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actor category, but the statuette went to Leonardo DiCaprio for his role in The Revenant.
Personal life of Matt Damon
Matt watched his best friend suffer from love for Jennifer Lopez for a very long time, and swore that such hassle would never happen in his life. He even broke up with his school friend Soren, because as his popularity grew, she demanded more and more attention to her person. The actor chose to choose a job.
Eccentric Matt Damon
His next passion, model Kara Sands, also couldn’t stand the competition with cinema. After the breakup, Matt fell in love with almost every colleague on the set: Minnie Driver, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Claire Danes, Frank Potente. But after his affair with Winona Ryder, Matt swore off having affairs with actresses: their demands were too high and their psyche was too unstable.
Matt Damon and Winona Ryder
In 2005, the actor married Spaniard Luciana Burrows, a decorator. They met two years earlier. In 2006, their first child, daughter Isabella, was born.
Matt Damon's family nest
Baby Gia Zavala was born in 2008, and Stella Zavala in 2010. Matt is also raising his wife’s daughter from his first marriage, Alexia (born 1999).
Matt Damon with his wife and children (2014)
Matt Damon with his wife
Matt Damon is a “super class” actor who, by the way, does not agree with this statement. He believes that there are stars in cinema of much greater magnitude. In addition, the actor, of course, appreciates the fame that his work gives him, but he simply dotes on his family, unlike some celebrities who put their roles first.
Matt Damon and his wife - dating story
The actor talks with great pleasure about his beloved women - his wife and daughters. Today he can’t even imagine how he lived before meeting his wife. Matt Damon believes that fate brought them together. In 2003, he agreed to a role in one film, but suddenly refused, succumbing to the Farrelly brothers’ persuasion to participate in the filming of the project “Stuck on You.” The actor went to Miami, where, in fact, he met “his Luciana” - a simple, beautiful and smart girl, devoid of the star power characteristic of Hollywood “things”. He really liked Luciana, who worked as a waitress in Miami, at first sight, and not only in appearance. Matt Damon characterizes himself as a boring person, but Luciana gave him the desire to live, smile, work, she could cheer him up, instill positivity in him.
The couple's relationship began in 2003, Matt Damon and Lussiana Barroso got married in 2005. In 2013, on their 10-year wedding anniversary, they, surrounded by their four girls - Isabella, Gia, Stella, Alexa - Lucianna's child from her first marriage, repeated their vows of loyalty to each other on one of the Caribbean islands. Among the guests were also close friends of the couple - Ben Affleck, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Matt Damon's relationship with his wife and children
Matt and Luciana have developed a family rule that they are never apart for more than 2 weeks. If an actor needs to leave for a longer period of time, he simply takes his family with him. Of course, this is not always convenient, because you have to pack a huge amount of things and take a nanny with you, but the family is not separated for long. The Damon couple are confident that such relationships are the best prevention of family dramas, betrayals and quarrels.
Matt Damon and his family often go on vacation to the sea and take walks together. Despite the girls’ young age and the head of the family’s workload, the couple tries to spend as much time as possible together.
