Matt Damon biography, net worth, wife, kids, height, age 2025

Matt Damon's Biography

Matthew Paige Damon is a Hollywood A-lister, best known for his roles in the Ocean's trilogy and the Jason Bourne action franchise. Early in his career, Damon appeared in Kevin Smith films like "Dogma" and "Chasing Amy." Together with best friend Ben Affleck, he co-wrote the acclaimed "Good Will Hunting," earning them the 1998 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Net worth: $170 million.

Matt Damon's Childhood

Matt spent the first two years of his life in Cambridge, not far from Boston. His father, Kent Telfer Damon, worked as a stockbroker while his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, taught at the local university. His constant companion was older brother Kyle, three years his senior. When Matt turned two, his parents divorced, leaving Nancy to raise the boys on her own—though both maintained close ties with their father and his new family.

According to Matt, his mother had an uncanny ability to predict the future. She always knew Matt would become an actor and envisioned Kyle pursuing art or sculpture. Though she never shared these predictions with her sons, everything unfolded exactly as she'd foreseen.

The persistent and stubborn Matt had no interest in acting at the time. At six, he was determined to become a basketball player, constantly pestering everyone to shoot hoops with him. During a visit, his father gently crushed those dreams, pointing out that Damons rarely topped 5'3" and weren't exactly built for the NBA. After much convincing, young Damon reluctantly abandoned his basketball aspirations.

Meeting Ben Affleck

At 14, Matt befriended Ben Affleck, a neighborhood kid who lived just a couple blocks away. It would prove to be a life-changing friendship. Despite Affleck being two years younger, the boys forged a deep friendship that would eventually blossom into a powerhouse creative partnership.

Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's friendship stood the test of time

Ben Affleck had already made his film debut at eight, sparking Matt's own dreams of big-screen stardom. They started attending drama classes at school. Two years into their friendship, the boys emptied their piggy banks and bought train tickets to New York. Without telling their parents, they snuck off to audition for "The Mickey Mouse Club." Unfortunately, they didn't even survive the first round and returned home, where Matt faced his parents' wrath.

Throughout high school, the two teens would hang out at Ben's house, drinking beer and writing and performing short comedy skits. They also hit the audition circuit, occasionally landing work as extras.

Eventually, Matt put his acting ambitions on the back burner. Ben headed to New York chasing his dreams of stardom and big paychecks. Meanwhile, Matt focused on academics, eventually enrolling at Harvard to study English.

Matt Damon's Acting Career. First roles.

Matt took script-writing classes on the side. During his first year, he landed a tiny one-line role in the romantic comedy «Mystic Pizza». On the 87th minute, his character says: «Mom, do you want my green stuff?». He later snagged a slightly bigger role as a sportscaster in the drama «Field of Dreams» with Kevin Costner.

Matt Damon's first role («Mystic Pizza»)

This reignited Damon's almost-forgotten dream of becoming an actor, and he told his parents he was heading to New York to try his luck with auditions. His parents told him he wouldn't be getting any support from them, so Matt set off with his entire savings: $200.

Once reunited in New York, the best friends started searching for an outlet for their unquenchable energy. But all they could find were roles in TJ Maxx supermarket commercials. In 1989, Matt played in «The Good Mother» and finally decided to quit Harvard.

Nobody knows how much effort it took Matt to maintain a good relationship with his parents, who weren't exactly thrilled about his decision. But just a year later, he and his friend landed main roles in «School Ties» alongside other up-and-coming actors: Chris O'Donnell and Brendan Fraser. A few months later, Matt got a role as Lieutenant Davis in the western «Geronimo: An American Legend», which turned out to be a box office flop.

Matt Damon's first significant role («School Ties»)

In 1996, two completely different Matt Damon movies came out: the student comedy «Glory Daze», which grossed a pathetic $15,000, and the drama «Courage Under Fire», for which Matt lost 40 pounds. His efforts paid off – after the movie's premiere, critics called Matt the «Breakthrough of the year».

Matt lost 20 kg for his role in «Courage Under Fire»

Soon after, he co-starred with Danny DeVito in the thriller «The Rainmaker». His character, young lawyer Rudy Baylor, is disillusioned with his profession, but life gives him a highly dangerous shot at instant success. In the process, the actor had to regain the kilograms he had lost for «Courage Under Fire».

«The Rainmaker»: Matt Damon in the role of a gifted lawyer

«Good Will Hunting» creation

According to Zoomboola.com, the script for one of the most significant movies of the '90s – «Good Will Hunting» – was born during just a couple of evenings. Matt Damon was helping Ben Affleck with his homework: the latter had to write an essay for college. After reading through their 20-page paper, the lecturer laughed and told Affleck that no one would ever read that nonsense. She returned the paper to him.

After «Good Will Hunting» Matt Damon became a legend

A couple of years later, Miramax released the movie with a $10 million budget; it grossed $225 million and won two Oscars out of nine nominations. The first went to the two friends for best screenplay, the second to Robin Williams for best actor. After the premiere, the media immediately dubbed Matt Damon the «Conqueror of women's hearts».

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon receive the Oscar

A year later, Matt Damon played in Steven Spielberg's drama «Saving Private Ryan». In the film, Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore, and Jeremy Davis are on a mission to bring Matt Damon safely home to spare his mother the pain of losing her three other sons. The film won 5 Oscars and became the highest-grossing movie of 1998.

That same year, «Rounders» was released, co-starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. This crime drama received positive reviews from critics, but was largely overshadowed by «Saving Private Ryan».

In 1999, audiences saw Matt in «The Talented Mr. Ripley» and Kevin Smith's «Dogma». The first movie presents Matt Damon as a true master of disguise - the character he plays impersonates another character.

In the second film, he stars alongside his best friend Ben Affleck. Their characters are two fallen angels – Loki and Bartleby – who threaten the very existence of humanity.

«Dogma»: Matt Damon in the role of the angel «Loki»

At this time Matt's career was developing so quickly that, in his own words, he used to wake up at night and ask himself: «How did I get so lucky?»

The next major breakthrough came with «Ocean's Eleven» in 2001. Matt plays one of eleven skilled thieves recruited by George Clooney's character for the most audacious casino heist ever attempted. Damon's character is a young pickpocket Linus Caldwell. The sequels followed in 2004 and 2007, earning massive worldwide acclaim.

Along with «Ocean's 11», Matt's other big project, «The Bourne Identity», was in the making. This CIA agent thriller about a man with complete amnesia literally revived public interest in the spy genre. Just three days after the premiere, Matt Damon received about 30 job offers.

Two years later came «The Bourne Supremacy», followed by «The Bourne Ultimatum». The movie also has a spin-off, starring Jeremy Renner.

The following year brought several successful Damon films: the criminal drama «The Departed», directed by Martin Scorsese and «The Good Shepherd», by Robert De Niro. Filming schedules overlapped, forcing the actor to juggle both demanding roles simultaneously.

Matt Damon playing poker

In 2014 he appeared in the science fiction movie «Interstellar», starring Matthew McConaughey. Damon's character turned out to be rather treacherous.

Whether intentional or not, Matt played the complete opposite role a year later in another space epic, «The Martian». After a mission goes wrong, Mark Watney gets stranded on Mars. While awaiting rescue, he transforms the barren, hostile planet into a livable environment. Matt Damon was nominated for the Oscars in the category of «Best Actor in a Leading Role», but the prize went to Leonardo DiCaprio for his role in «The Revenant».

September 2016 saw the release of the fourth Bourne film, «Jason Bourne», with Damon returning to his signature role. He starred alongside Alicia Vikander and Hollywood veteran Tommy Lee Jones.

Graham Norton's Show: Matt Damon in the new «Bourne»

Damon also landed the lead in the action-fantasy «The Great Wall» (2016), exploring the mysterious origins of China's iconic landmark. 2017 brought two new Damon releases: the comedy «Downsizing» and the crime thriller «Suburbicon», with a lead role originally written for George Clooney.

Matt played a secondary role in Steven Soderbergh's thriller «Unsane» (2018), where he portrayed a detective.

Matt Damon's Personal Life

After watching his best friend suffer through his breakup with Jennifer Lopez, Matt vowed never to let that happen to him. He even broke up with his college girlfriend Soren when she started demanding more attention as his fame grew. The actor chose to focus on his career instead.

His next romance, with model Kara Sands, also couldn't survive competing with his career. After their split, Matt found himself falling for nearly every woman he worked with. Minnie Driver, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Claire Danes, Franka Potente. But after his relationship with Winona Ryder, Matt swore off dating actresses entirely—their demands were too high and emotions too volatile.

In 2005, the actor married Luciana Barroso, a Spanish decorator he'd met two years earlier. In 2006 their first daughter Isabella was born.

Their second daughter, Gia Zavala, was born in 2008, and their third daughter, Stella Zavala, in 2010. Matt also has a stepdaughter, Alexia (1999), from his wife's previous marriage.

Matt Damon Today

Matt Damon has achieved such worldwide fame that he can now afford to choose only the most compelling projects. In 2019, Damon starred in the box office hit "Ford vs. Ferrari" and appeared in "Jay and Silent Bob: Reboot," playing Loki. In 2020, "The Last Duel" premiered, starring Matt alongside Adam Driver and Ben Affleck.

Matt Damon: latest news and articles

Virginia Collins

The Martian is top! I wish they will make more movies like that!

2021-04-28 10:22:44
Todd Bell

Oh, it`s a legend Jason Bourne! He also played in an episode of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with Ben Affleck.

2021-04-11 10:20:38
Matthew Adrian Hughes

Movies with Damon are always cool! I really like all the movies with him

2021-03-16 15:40:38
Eugene Williamson

To play Martian was a very great of him!!

2021-03-15 20:37:46
Cheryl Martin

Damon is so big but always very handsome :) I can`t imagine him being serious.

2020-12-30 15:24:10

Matt Damon

Photos: Matt Damon