Matt Damon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matt Damon
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Damon in 2024
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Matthew Paige Damon
October 8, 1970 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Education | Harvard University (dropped out) |
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| Years active | 1987–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
Luciana Bozán Barroso
(m. 2005) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Full list |
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Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8, 1970) is a famous American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He has won many important awards, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. He has also been nominated for other big awards like the British Academy Film Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.
Matt Damon first acted in a film called Mystic Pizza in 1988. He became very well known in 1997 when he and his friend Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting. This movie won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.
He became a leading actor by playing characters like Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Jason Bourne in the exciting Bourne movies (2002–2007; 2016). He also played Linus Caldwell in the Ocean's film series (2001–2007). In 2015, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for playing an astronaut stuck on Mars in The Martian.
Damon has also appeared in many other popular movies. These include Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Departed (2006), True Grit (2010), Ford v Ferrari (2019), and Oppenheimer (2023). Oppenheimer is his highest-earning movie so far.
On television, Matt Damon played Scott Thorson in the movie Behind the Candelabra (2013). He was also nominated for an Emmy for his guest roles in 30 Rock and for hosting Saturday Night Live. He has also produced TV shows like Project Greenlight and movies like Manchester by the Sea. Matt Damon has also used his voice for animated films and documentaries. He has started two film production companies with Ben Affleck: Artists Equity and Pearl Street Films. He also helps many charities, including the One Campaign and Water.org.
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Matt Damon's Early Life and Schooling
Matt Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 8, 1970. His father, Kent Telfer Damon, was a stockbroker, and his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, was a professor who taught about early childhood education. His family moved to Newton for two years. When he was two, his parents divorced. Matt and his brother, Kyle, moved back to Cambridge with their mother. They lived in a shared house with other families. Kyle is now a sculptor and artist.
Matt Damon went to Cambridge Alternative School and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. He was a good student and acted in many school plays. He said his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, was a very important influence on him. His close friend and schoolmate, Ben Affleck, also acted with him.
Damon went to Harvard University but left before finishing his degree. He left to take a main role in the film Geronimo: An American Legend. While at Harvard, he started writing the screenplay for Good Will Hunting for an English class. This script later won him an Academy Award.
Matt Damon's Acting Career
Starting Out and Becoming Famous (1988–1999)
Matt Damon started at Harvard University in 1988 and acted in student plays. He made his first film appearance at 18 in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza. He had only one line in the movie. While still a student, he had small roles in films like Rising Son and School Ties.
In 1992, he left Harvard to act in Geronimo: An American Legend in Los Angeles. He hoped this movie would be a big hit. His next role was in 1996's Courage Under Fire. For this film, he lost 40 pounds (18 kg) in 100 days by following a strict diet and exercise plan. Critics noticed his performance in Courage Under Fire, with The Washington Post calling it "impressive."
In the early 1990s, Damon and Ben Affleck wrote Good Will Hunting (1997). This movie was about a young math genius. They worked on the script more seriously after Damon moved into Affleck's apartment in Los Angeles. The film was set partly in their hometown of Cambridge and used their own experiences. They sold the script to Miramax. The movie was highly praised by critics. Quentin Curtis of The Daily Telegraph found "real wit and vigour" in their writing. Emanuel Levy of Variety said Damon's acting would make him a star.
Good Will Hunting received nine Academy Awards nominations. Damon was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor. He and Affleck won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. They were each paid $600,000, and the film earned over $225 million worldwide.
Before Good Will Hunting, Damon played the main character in the drama The Rainmaker (1997). The Los Angeles Times called him "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom." After meeting Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting, director Steven Spielberg cast him in a small but important role in the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan. He also starred with Edward Norton in the 1998 poker film Rounders.
Damon then played Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He lost 25 pounds (11 kg) for this role. The film was based on a 1955 novel and also starred Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. Critics praised the movie. He also played a fallen angel with Ben Affleck in Dogma (1999).
Becoming Globally Recognized (2000–2008)
In 2000, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey started a production company called LivePlanet. Through this company, they created the Emmy-nominated documentary series Project Greenlight. This show helped new filmmakers find funding for their movies.
During this time, Damon joined two successful film series: the Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and the Bourne movies (2002–2016). In the first Ocean's film, Ocean's Eleven (2001), he played the thief Linus Caldwell. This movie was a big success, earning $450 million.
In 2002, Damon wrote and starred in Gerry, a drama about two friends lost in a desert. Later that year, he played amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity. Damon did many of his own stunts and trained for three months in stunt work, weapons, and fighting. The movie was a big commercial success. Roger Ebert praised the film and Damon's "focused and sincere" acting. Entertainment Weekly called Damon one of "the decade's best mixer of brawn and brains."
Damon voiced Spirit in the animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002). In 2004, he starred in the sequels The Bourne Supremacy and Ocean's Twelve. Both films earned over $280 million. For The Bourne Supremacy, Damon won an Empire Award for Best Actor.
In 2005, he played a fictional version of Wilhelm Grimm in The Brothers Grimm, which was not well-received. Later in 2005, he appeared in the thriller Syriana with George Clooney. This film was about the oil industry. In 2006, Damon starred in The Good Shepherd as a CIA officer. He also played an undercover mobster in Martin Scorsese's The Departed. The New York Times praised Damon's unique ability to be fully present in a film while also blending into the story. The Departed won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Becoming an Established Actor (2009–2019)
In 2009, Matt Damon made a guest appearance on the TV show Entourage as himself. He also starred in Steven Soderbergh's comedy The Informant!, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. Also in 2009, Damon played South Africa national rugby union team captain François Pienaar in the film Invictus. This movie was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Invictus earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Damon also lent his voice to the English version of the animated film Ponyo.
In March 2010, Damon and Ben Affleck started another production company called Pearl Street Films. That year, he worked again with director Paul Greengrass on the action thriller Green Zone. Damon's 2010 projects also included Clint Eastwood's Hereafter and the Coen brothers' Western True Grit.
In 2011, he starred in The Adjustment Bureau, Contagion, and We Bought a Zoo. He also voiced a krill named Bill in the animated film Happy Feet Two. In 2012, Damon filmed Promised Land, which he co-wrote with John Krasinski. Damon's next film with Steven Soderbergh was Behind the Candelabra (2013), where he played Liberace's partner Scott Thorson.
Damon starred in the science fiction film Elysium (2013). He also appeared in The Zero Theorem (2013). In 2014, he starred in George Clooney's The Monuments Men and had a small role in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar.
In 2015, Damon played the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, in Ridley Scott's The Martian. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Damon returned to his role as Jason Bourne in the 2016 film Jason Bourne. In 2017, Damon starred in The Great Wall and two comedies, Suburbicon and Downsizing. In 2019, Damon played Carroll Shelby in the film Ford v Ferrari.
Matt Damon's Activism and Charity Work
Matt Damon is involved in many charity projects. He is one of the founders of Not On Our Watch Project. This group works to stop and prevent terrible events like mass killings around the world. Damon also supports the One Campaign, which aims to fight AIDS and poverty in developing countries. He is an ambassador for ONEXONE, a group that helps children in Canada, the United States, and worldwide.
Damon is a spokesperson for Feeding America, an organization that helps people who don't have enough food. He is also on the board of Tonic Mailstopper, a company that tries to stop junk mail.
Damon founded the H2O Africa Foundation, which later joined with WaterPartners to create Water.org in 2009. Water.org works to bring safe, clean, and affordable drinking water and sanitation to developing countries. Damon has been the face of advertising campaigns to raise money and awareness for Water.org. He has worked with companies like PepsiCo and Starbucks to promote their efforts.
In 2021, he announced a new partnership with the cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com. Crypto.com donated $1 million to Water.org. Damon said he gives 100% of the money he earns from their commercials to Water.org. His Crypto.com commercial, which aired widely, received a lot of public discussion.
Matt Damon's Personal Life
Matt Damon met his wife, Luciana Bozán, in Miami in April 2003 while filming Stuck on You. They got engaged in September 2005 and married on December 9, 2005. They have three daughters together, born in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Matt also has a stepdaughter, Alexia Barroso (born 1998), from Luciana's previous marriage, and he considers her his own daughter.
The family has lived in Miami and New York City. Since 2012, they have lived in the Pacific Palisades area in Los Angeles. In 2018, Damon bought a luxury apartment in New York City's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood.
Matt Damon is a big fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. He even narrated the DVD about their 2007 World Series win. He has also played in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events.
Political and Social Views
Matt Damon supports the Democratic Party. He has spoken about his concerns regarding the Iraq War and how different social classes are affected by war. In 2003, he said he "hates guns" and supports Gun control.
He has worked with the Obama administration because of his friendship with Jason Furman, who was his Harvard roommate and later became an economic advisor to Obama. In 2012, Damon helped host a fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. He also supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
In March 2018, Damon and Ben Affleck announced that their company, Pearl Street Films, would use an "inclusion rider" for all their future movies. This means they will try to have more diverse people working on their film sets.
Awards and Honors for Matt Damon
Besides the awards he has won for acting and producing, Matt Damon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 25, 2007. He was the 2,343rd person to get this honor. He said it was one of those moments that felt "too big to process."
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Matt Damon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Handprints and footprints of Damon in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre
See also
In Spanish: Matt Damon para niños
