Ben Affleck Recounts Horrors Of Living With Matt Damon & Going ‘Broke’ In Early Days Of Career

Apr 26, 2023 by apost team

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s relationship is one of the most famous and enduring friendships in Hollywood. The two actors have been friends since childhood and have remained close throughout their successful careers.

Ben and Damon grew up in the same neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and attended the same high school. They both had a passion for acting and writing and began collaborating on scripts in their early 20s. Their breakthrough came in 1997 when they co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed film “Good Will Hunting,” which won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Since then, Ben and Damon have worked together on several other projects, including the films “Dogma,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “The Town.” The friendship between Ben and Damon is a testament to the power of genuine connections that can withstand the test of time and success. They have also supported each other’s individual careers, culminating in the pair rejoining each other onscreen for 2021’s “The Last Duel” and Ben directing Damon in the film “Air” released in April 2023.

Their friendship has been described as genuine and supportive, with both men praising each other’s talents and successes. In one case where they interviewed each other, Ben said to Damon, “I love you, man. I want you to do all my interviews. Are you cheap?” Similarly, Damon has spoken about his gratitude for Ben’s support and told an interview in 2018 that he “certainly wouldn’t be (in Hollywood) were it not for him.”

Despite their busy schedules and the pressures of fame, Ben and Damon have managed to maintain their friendship over the years. However, its course hasn’t always been smooth sailing, as Ben opened up about the horrors of living with Damon in the early days of their career. 

While Ben and Damon’s shared passion for writing and acting initially brought them together, their mutual respect and support for each other have helped them achieve great things both individually and as a team. In an interview with James Corden on Apr. 14, 2023, Ben opened up on his and Damon’s early years trying to break into Hollywood and how they would support each other.

“We were teenagers, and we wanted to go up to New York – we were in Boston – and audition and we were kind of like, we wanted to help each other and we would hope one of us would make enough money so we could keep having enough to take the train to New York to do the next audition,” Ben explained.

He confirmed they even shared a joint bank account, which confounded Corden.

“Why do people think that’s unusual?” Ben questioned smilingly and jokingly added, “When ‘The Bourne Identity’ came out, I was pretty psyched.”

Ben added that after their time in Boston, they eventually moved together to Los Angeles. “We moved to LA, we just lived in the same house and it was just easier,” Ben recounted. However, his friend appeared quite oblivious to the rigors of renting a home.

“Matt’s never paid a bill to this day,” Ben remarked and added that when Damon would ask, “‘Why aren’t the lights working?’” he would reply, “I guess because the utility company needs money to fund our electricity.”

Ben wasn’t the only one privy to the domestic misery caused by Damon’s blissful ignorance, as his younger brother, fellow actor Casey Affleck, also lived with them for a time. 

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When asked by Corden about how good a roommate Damon had been, Ben sang the praises of his dear friend – but with a caveat.

“Matt is a beautiful guy, I love him. He’s my best friend, he’s been great to me my whole life, he’s a brilliant guy,” Ben gushed but added unequivocally, “I would not suggest living with him.”

He continued by explaining that Damon had the uncanny ability to “block things out,” such as “the idea that when you finish with something, it has to be washed or thrown away.” 

Ben then recalled how he and his brother Casey had had enough of Damon’s unkempt ways and decided to go on a “sit-down strike” to see how long it would take for him to realize the unsanitary conditions of their lodgings.

“We’re just going to wait and see how long he will go before he actually gets up and goes, ‘I’m covered in garbage!’ We went weeks, two weeks without touching the apartment. We came home one day – Matt’s there in his shorts, his t-shirt, playing, I think it was the ’92 Sega hockey game, in the middle of what was the living room – just surrounded by concentric circles of garbage,” Ben related.

The enormity of his and Casey’s underestimation of Damon’s slovenly habits hit Ben hard upon seeing some weeks-old sushi on the ground covered in maggots.

“We were like, ‘We submit! We submit; you are too good. We cannot beat you,” Ben said.

Grateful that he no longer had to share accommodations with Damon anymore, Ben tipped his hat off to someone who did.

“God bless his wife,” Ben said of Damon’s partner Luciana Barroso and added, “There’s a place for you in heaven.”

Ben also appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Apr. 21, 2023, to share more details about living with Damon at the start of their careers. Many of us were first introduced to Ben and Damon after they appeared in the breakout 1997 hit “Good Will Hunting,” which the duo had also written together. The film was directed by Gus Van Sant and also starred Robin Williams, who earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Damon’s character’s therapist, and Minnie Driver, 

Ben revealed that, once they had sold the rights to their “Good Will Hunting” screenplay for $600,000, he believed he would be set for life financially, but that thought quickly went down the drain.

“(I thought), ‘My needs are over. I will never have to work again. I’m rich forever,’” he told the talk show host. 

However, after coughing up $30,000 in fees to their agent, $160,000 in taxes, two $55,000 Jeep Cherokees and renting a “party house” for $5,000 a month, Affleck explained they “were broke in six months.” 

Despite the unexpected downturn, Affleck said the experience was “really valuable” for his relationship with Damon and that he had no regrets about sharing a bank account with him.

“In retrospect, (it was) really valuable because I think, kind of starting out in a field like that can feel very lonely but we shared that bank account like, into our 20s,” Affleck stated. 

He added he had absolutely no regrets about how he and his best friend navigated their early days together in the least.

“We were friends, and we wanted each other to succeed, and we loved each other, so it seemed clear, like, ‘Let’s do this together,’” he remarked.

Did Ben Affleck’s reveal about Matt Damon’s less-than-stellar habits surprise you? What about the fact they went broke so quickly after breaking into Hollywood? If so, pass this on to friends and family who might be tickled to learn about them too.