Matt Damon is a prolific actor, producer, and filmmaker. He started his career with a small appearance in 1988’s coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza and went on to star in films such as 1997’s legal drama The Rainmaker. Later that year, he would meet his breakthrough after co-writing Good Will Hunting with his best friend Ben Affleck. The film won the duo the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and earned Damon a Best Actor nomination.
Since then, Damon has starred in films across genres. This includes the iconic Ocean’s casino heist trilogy, the Bourne franchise, Scorsese’s The Departed, and more on- and off-screen collaborations with Ben Affleck for titles like The Last Duel, Air, The Instigators, and more.
Another key collaboration in Damon’s career is his work with British-American director Christopher Nolan. Damon started with a surprise minor appearance in Nolan’s 2014 science-fiction epic, Interstellar, and brought Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves to life in Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was heavily praised for its ensemble and Nolan’s dedication to shooting in 70mm and for favoring practical effects over CGI.
Now, Damon is back working with Nolan on the director’s upcoming epic, The Odyssey, based on Homer’s eponymous epic poem. The actor was recently pictured on set as Odysseus, sporting a long gray beard and his ripped physique. Also spotted in set photos was co-star Zendaya, wearing a toga-inspired dress and braided hair. The Odyssey also stars Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, and familiar Nolan collaborators Robert Pattinson and Anne Hathaway.
Matt Damon in film and television
Based on a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session from nine years ago, some of Damon’s favorite films he had starred in include his work in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, which he credited for positioning himself “as an actor that studio would take a chance on.”
Still, over the years, some of Damon’s best performances are actually the fun little cameos he has littered through his filmography. His appearance as a “punk band guy” in 2004’s teen sex comedy EuroTrip, for example, was due to his coincidentally being in Prague, where they had filmed. While shooting The Brothers Grimm with the late Heath Ledger, the three writers of EuroTrip, with whom Damon had gone to college, asked him if he’d like to appear. The song Damon’s character sang in EuroTrip was written by the brother of a college roommate. Damon also has a cheeky cameo as a fictional US senator in Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls, likely due to his prior collaborations with the Coen brothers.
As such, it’s no secret that Damon enjoys bringing his passions and interests outside of film into his work as a filmmaker. This includes his love for poker. In a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Damon admitted he’s heavily interested in making a second Rounders film. The 1998 cult classic stars Damon alongside Ed Norton as two friends navigating the underground world of high-stakes poker. The film has remained popular over the years thanks to the growth of the poker industry.
Aside from Hollywood films, Damon is also no stranger to television work. The actor has executive-produced various TV projects through the years, including documentary series like Project Greenlight and drama miniseries like Hulu’s We Were The Lucky Ones, which is based on the Holocaust. Damon has also narrated TV documentaries like Journey to Planet Earth and The People Speak.
Matt Damon’s philanthropy and charity work
Throughout his career, Damon has demonstrated a passion for activism. In 2008, he co-founded The Sentry alongside fellow actors Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub to bring global attention to human rights violations in Darfur. The organization’s approach is rooted in the book Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle and human rights activist John Prendergast, who was also a board member and the organization’s strategic advisor.
Like his film work, Damon has been able to combine his philanthropy with his passions, such as poker. In 2020, Damon, who is a spokesperson for Feeding America, participated alongside other Hollywood celebs like Ben Affleck, Adam Sandler, Tom Brady, Tobey Maguire, Bryan Cranston, and Sarah Silverman in an online poker tournament to raise money for the organization. The tournament, dubbed “All-in For America’s Charity,” required participants to donate $10,000 to secure their seat at the star-studded table.
In partnership with online poker operator Americas Cardroom, the tournament was hosted by one of the site’s Pro team members, Michael Loncar. Fellow ACR Pro and high-stakes poker player Ebony Kenney won first place, beating out actor Kevin Pollak. Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston also had an impressive tournament run, placing fifth. By the end of the event, they raised around $1.75 million.
Aside from the occasional poker tournaments for charity, one of Damon’s most significant acts of activism involves co-founding Water.org in 2009, after founding the H2O Africa Foundation and merging with WaterPartners. In 2024, the actor received the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award from the Elevate Prize Foundation for his advocacy and work with Water.org to bring safe water and sanitation to the world. The Foundation previously presented the award to actor Michael J. Fox in 2023 for his work toward accelerating new therapies and a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Friendship with Ben Affleck
Of course, a huge part of Damon’s career in Hollywood goes hand in hand with his literal childhood friend and fellow acclaimed filmmaker Ben Affleck. Growing up, the two had lived in the same Cambridge neighborhood. Later, the duo decided to name their production company, Pearl Street Films, after the Cambridge street they walked on to visit one another.
Having been each other’s rocks in chasing Hollywood stardom, the two also clearly share a love for similar subjects, whether sociopolitical awareness, class consciousness, or simply a love for poker. While Damon’s most significant poker experience is his lead role in Rounders, Affleck is more of a pro. In 2004, he won the $10,000 buy-in WPT California State Poker Championship for $356,400. The two actively participated in celebrity poker tournaments like the aforementioned “All-in For America’s Charity.” This includes several runs in the “Ante Up for Africa” celeb poker tournament by the World Series of Poker, in which proceeds went to the Enough Project and the International Rescue Committee.
Recently, Ben Affleck appeared on an episode of Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. In the interview, Affleck credits his “ability to kind of stay sane” throughout his Hollywood career growth and trajectory to having Damon with him. In the podcast, Affleck also joked about frequently being asked about Damon’s abs — likely a reference to the latest set photos from The Odyssey. Still, the brotherhood between the two actors is evident, as Affleck also praised Damon for transforming his body, noting how it isn’t easy once one hits 50 years old. As with everything Damon does in his career, hard work seems to be at its core, and we’ll likely see him continuing to work with the same level of passion moving forward.
Read more: Ed Sheeran
