All of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Movies Together, from “Good Will Hunting ”to “Air”
The Hollywood dream team formed a friendship while growing up in Boston. They've gone on to create Oscar-worthy work together on both sides of the camera
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have a long history of working together and an even longer history as friends.
The Boston-born besties — who met when Affleck was 8 and Damon was 10 — started collaborating as early as their teen years, when they were uncredited extras in Field of Dreams. They went on to establish themselves as stars individually, playing minor parts or making cameos behind each other's leading performances.
After the success of their co-written screenplay Good Will Hunting in 1997, the dynamic duo continued dominating Hollywood and became the industry's favorite friends. Following their 2023 biopic Air, Affleck and Damon announced their upcoming crime film for Netflix, Animals, in January 2024.
From their Oscar-winning classic to their lesser-known moments on the same screen, check out all of the projects Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have done together.
'Animals' (2024)
The childhood confidantes are set to collaborate once again for Netflix's upcoming kidnapping crime film Animals. While Damon is set to star, Affleck will remain behind the camera as director.
This is hardly the first time Damon's worked under his pal's direction: Long before Affleck called the shots on the set of Air, he was directing Damon back at their high school in Massachusetts.
"It might seem like the first time he's directed me," Damon said during a Q&A for Air, according to IndieWire. The actor added, "I mean, we did high school plays where he was like, 'Dude, I think you should do it like this.' "
'Air' (2023)
Affleck directed the 2023 biopic Air and cast himself and his best friend as the leads. The film tells the story of the Nike shoe line Air Jordan and how the footwear brand signed Michael Jordan when he was just an NBA rookie.
Damon starred as sports marketing exec Sonny Vaccaro, while Affleck played Nike co-founder Phil Knight. They shared the screen with a star-studded cast featuring the likes of Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans and Jason Bateman.
'The Last Duel' (2021)
For the first time since Good Will Hunting, the pair joined together to write and star in The Last Duel, an action-packed period piece set in medieval France. This time, Affleck and Damon brought in the help of another writer, Oscar nominee Nicole Holofcener.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Damon compared The Last Duel to Good Will Hunting, explaining that the former has "more perspective."
"There are two knights and then there's Lady Marguerite," he noted. "So Ben and I wrote the male perspectives and Nicole Holofcener wrote the female perspective. That's kind of the architecture of that movie."
'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' (2019)
Kevin Smith reunited with Affleck and Damon in 2019 for another self-parodying movie from Smith's cinematic universe of characters. Affleck tapped back into his role as Holden McNeil from 1997's Chasing Amy, and Damon reprised the fallen angel Loki from their 1999 movie Dogma.
'Project Greenlight' (2001-2015)
The Hollywood sensations joined forced to bring new talents into the movie-making business on the HBO series Project Greenlight. The show focused on first-time filmmakers as they competed to have their debut productions picked up.
After a three-season run from 2001 to 2005, Affleck and Damon revived the reality show for a fourth season in 2015.
'Jersey Girl' (2004)
In 2004, Affleck costarred with his then-fiancé (and now-wife, after a nearly two-decade split) Jennifer Lopez in Jersey Girl, their second film together after Gigli. Damon held only a cameo role in the film as a public relations executive interviewing Affleck's character for a job.
'The Third Wheel' (2002)
Affleck played a supporting role in the 2002 rom-com starring Luke Wilson and Denise Richards. Damon made an uncredited cameo in the flick as an ex-boyfriend of Richards' character.
'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' (2001)
The Kevin Smith-directed parody pulled from several of Affleck and Damon's previous works, including their critically acclaimed parts in Good Will Hunting. During one scene, they film a fake sequel called Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season. Affleck also reprises his part as comic book artist Holden McNeil from Chasing Amy.
'Dogma' (1999)
The unbeatable team costarred as fallen angels in yet another Smith film, the religious satire Dogma.
'Good Will Hunting' (1997)
Good Will Hunting remains Damon and Affleck's biggest accomplishment as a duo. They started writing the screenplay in 1994, and when production began in 1997, the childhood friends couldn't believe what they accomplished.
In a 2021 interview for GQ, Damon shared how he and Affleck cried on the first day of filming.
"Sometimes those moments sneak up on you," Damon said. "And that was another one of those moments we never thought was going to arrive. To see not only actors, but those actors, saying the stuff that we wrote, was like … f---."
The film was nominated for several awards, including Best Picture, at the 1998 Oscars, and Affleck and Damon triumphed in the Best Screenplay category. Their costar, the late Robin Williams, won for Best Supporting Actor as well.
'Chasing Amy' (1997)
Damon made a cameo in the rom-com that sparked a breakthrough in Affleck's career. During a dual career retrospective with Vanity Fair, the besties explained that Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith recruited Damon knowing he was pals with the film's leading man.
"I slept on Kevin's couch, and it was like, 'You got a buddy, this guy Matt, will he be in it?' " Affleck remembered, adding that Damon was "better known" than himself at the time. "[Smith] was totally happy to exploit Matt's stardom for his own benefit, and so was I."
'Glory Daze' (1995)
Affleck starred as the lead in the indie film Glory Daze, which followed his character Jack as he grapples with graduating from college. Damon played one of Jack's former roommates in a non-speaking role. The 1995 flick also featured Matthew McConaughey, Leah Remini and Brendan Fraser in minor roles.
'School Ties' (1992)
The duo joined stars like Brendan Fraser and Anthony Rapp as competitive prep school students in the 1992 drama School Ties. Damon played the rival of Fraser's character, while Affleck appeared in a smaller role.
Just a few years earlier, the up-and-coming stars were teenagers themselves. Though Affleck is two years younger than Damon, they attended the same high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and costarred in school productions.
According to Damon's brother Kyle, however, the two A-listers of today weren't such hot shots around campus back then. Kyle once told PEOPLE that they "weren't considered cool kids." In fact, he said, "They were drama geeks."
'Field of Dreams' (1989)
The longtime best friends didn't just grow up together — they also started their careers in tandem. They costarred the first time in the sports fantasy flick Field of Dreams, and though both Damon and Affleck played uncredited parts, they still look back fondly on the experience.
Damon recalled the period during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show in July 2021.
"I bet there were probably 3,000 extras in a big crowd scene when Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are at the baseball game," he said. "Costner came out and hung out with the extras, and Ben and I went and struck up a conversation with him. And he probably gave us five minutes. He was incredibly generous with his time."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.