Ben Affleck And Matt Damon Aren't Shy About How Much They Cherish Their Relationship

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's sweet friendship goes all the way back to their childhood years. The two stars grew up in the same neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and their paths first crossed when they were around eight and 10 years old, respectively. As the two grew up, they set out to take on Hollywood together. During Affleck's 2007 chat with Parade, he shared that none of his peers at school had caught the acting bug, so the wannabe performer felt quite isolated in pursuing his passion. However, everything changed when Affleck met Damon. The aspiring actors quickly bonded over their dreams and started auditioning together when they were still teenagers. 

As their wildest dreams started coming true, Affleck and Damon remained close and worked together as co-stars and writers a handful of times too. And, in November 2022, they took things a step further, co-founding their production company, Artists Equity. Speaking to Deadline in 2024, Affleck revealed the endearing reason they embarked upon this joint venture: "Really at the root of this company was Matt and my realization that your life is defined so much by the people that you spend time with every day." He continued, "On 'The Last Duel,' we agreed we ought to do more stuff together. Life is just a lot more fun and rewarding when we're spending time together, and working together." 

Meanwhile, the "Martian" star admitted to tearing up when he watched The Beatles' last-ever performance in Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary "The Beatles: Get Back" because it made him realize that he wanted to continuing working with Affleck in any way possible. 

During a 2021 chat with GQ, Ben Affleck confirmed that longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon was instrumental in helping him to navigate fame. The "Gone Girl" star gushed that his BFF was someone "who I could reflect on it with honestly, talk things over with, be myself with, who I knew why we were friends, why he was interested and loved me, why I loved him." In fact, Affleck had a hard time understanding how people handled the spotlight without having a friend like the "Bourne Identity" star by their side. Likewise, Damon confessed to People in 2023 that he had a tough time dealing with fame, too, but the actor was incredibly grateful to have a friend like Affleck, who could provide him with tons of empathy and advice at a moment's notice. 

After the "Argo" star similarly expressed enormous gratitude for their friendship, Affleck added that he had also formed a close bond with the "Departed" star's family, too. In fact, the Oscar winner was hugely emotional about how fast Damon's daughters were growing up. On a similar note, Damon also shared a close relationship with Jennifer Lopez, Affleck's ex-wife. Given all this, it's unsurprising that the beloved actor included their abiding, super close friendship as one of the three most important relationships of his life during a 2023 appearance on "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?" To make matters even sweeter, Affleck earned himself a spot next to Damon's wife, Luciana Barroso, and Gary White, with whom Damon started a charity called Water.org in 2009.