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Going from obscure
actor to Hollywood golden boy in just a handful of
years, Matt Damon became an instant sensation when
he co-wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting. With
his Best Original Screenplay Oscar (shared by
co-writer and co-star Ben Affleck), he was ensured a
place on the Hollywood "It" boy roster. |
A product of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born on October
8, 1970, Damon grew up in prosperous surroundings with
his tax preparer father, college professor mother, and
older brother. At the age of ten, he made the
acquaintance of one Ben Affleck, a boy two years his
junior who lived down the street. The two became best
friends and professional collaborators. Educated at
Cambridge's Rindge and Latin School, Damon was accepted
at Harvard University, where he studied for three years
before dropping out to pursue his acting career. During
his time there, he had to write a screenplay for an
English class: it went unfinished, but it would later be
dusted off and turned into Good Will Hunting.
Arriving in Hollywood, Damon got his first break with a
one-scene part in Mystic Pizza (1988). However, his film
career failed to take off, and it was not until 1992,
when he had a starring role in School Ties, that he was
again visible to movie audiences. As the film was a
relative failure, Damon's substantial role failed to win
him notice, and he was back to laboring in obscurity. It
was around this time, fed up with his Hollywood
struggles, that Damon contacted Affleck, and the two
finished writing the former's neglected screenplay and
began trying to get it made into a film. It was
eventually picked up by Miramax, with Gus Van Sant
slated to direct and Robin Williams secured in a major
role.
Before Good Will Hunting was released in 1997, Damon won
some measure of recognition for his role as a
drug-addicted soldier in Courage Under Fire; various
industry observers praised his performance and his
dedication to the part, for which he lost forty pounds
and suffered resulting health problems. Any praise Damon
may have received, however, was overshadowed the
following year by the accolades he garnered for Good
Will Hunting. His Oscar win and strong performance in
the film virtually guaranteed industry adulation and
steady employment, something that was made readily
apparent the following year with lead roles in two major
films. The first, John Dahl's Rounders, cast Damon as a
former card shark trying to make good, despite the
temptations posed by his ne'er-do-well buddy (Edward
Norton). Despite a name cast and preliminary hype,
however, the film proved a relative critical and
financial disappointment. The same could not be said of
Damon's second film that year, Steven Spielberg's Saving
Private Ryan. As Ryan's title character, Damon headlined
an all-star line-up and received part of the lavish
praise heaped on the film and its strong ensemble cast.
The following year, Damon further increased his profile
with leads in two more highly anticipated films, Anthony
Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Kevin Smith's
Dogma. The former cast the actor against type as the
title character, a psychotic bisexual murderer, and
featured him as part of an improbably blonde and
photogenic cast that included Cate Blanchett, Jude Law,
and Gwyneth Paltrow. Dogma also allowed Damon to go
against his nice-guy persona by casting him as a fallen
angel. One of the year's more controversial films, it
reunited him with Affleck, as well as Smith, who had
cast Damon in a bit role in his 1997 film, Chasing Amy.
Taking a break from psychosis and religious satire,
Damon next turned-up in notable performances in a pair
of low-grossing, low-key dramas, The Legend of Beggar
Vance and All the Pretty Horses (both 2000), before
appearing in director Steven Soderbergh's blockbuster
remake of the Rat Pack classic Oceans 11 the following
year.
2002 found the actor vacillating between earnest indie
projects and major Hollywood releases, both behind and
in front of the camera. First up was Damon's mentoring
of neophyte filmmaker Chris Smith in the
Miramax-sponsored Project Greenlight, a screenplay
sweepstakes in which in the (arguably) lucky winner got
the chance to make a feature film and have the process
recorded for all to see on an HBO reality series of the
same name. Damon's common-sense presence helped make the
show a must-see, even if his protege's film -- the
critically-reviled coming-of-age film Stolen Summer --
died a swift death at the box office. Damon had better
luck at the summer box office, starring in director Doug
Liman's jet-setting espionage thriller The Bourne
Identity. Though many expected the film to be
overshadowed by his old buddy Affleck's less-edgy The
Sum of All Fears - which was released just two weeks
prior -- Damon proved once again that he could open a
film with just as much star power as his best friend and
colleague. Better yet, Bourne reinforced Damon's
standings with the critics, who found his performance
understated and believable.
Critics took notice of a disparaging ilk, however, when
they caught a glimpse of Damon's reunion project with
Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant, the
curiously-styled Gerry. Premiering not long after Stolen
Summer at the 2002 Sundance Festival, Van Sant's latest
dip into the shallow end of the avant-garde pool
featured Damon as Gerry, a mostly-silent young man who
gets lost in the desert with another mostly-silent young
man, played by Casey Affleck, who also happens to be
named Gerry. The improvisational film made little impact
on festival audiences, but the star's name was enough to
ensure it a limited release that fall.
The next year, Damon starred opposite Greg Kinnear in
the Farrelly Brothers' Stuck On You. Tackling the touchy
subject of conjoined twins in a broad comedy, the film
was a hit with audiences and garnered positive reviews
from critics. Switching gears in 2004, Damon returned to
the role of Jason Bourne for the sequel The Bourne
Supremacy. When the film opened at number-one, it served
as proof of Damon's continued clout with audiences.
Later that same year, he could be seen as half of The
Brothers Grimm and in another sequel, Ocean's Twelve.
Filmography
• The Bourne Supremacy/The
Bourne Identity (2005)
• The Brothers Grimm (2005)
• Syriana (2005)
• The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
• Eurotrip (2004)
• Jersey Girl (2004)
• Ocean's Twelve (2004)
• Gerry (2003)
• Stuck on You (2003)
• The Bourne Identity (2002)
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
• The Third Wheel (2002)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Ocean's Eleven (2001)
• All the Pretty Horses (2000)
• The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
• Titan A.E. (2000)
• Dogma (1999)
• The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
• Rounders (1998)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• Chasing Amy (1997)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• The Rainmaker (1997)
• Courage Under Fire (1996)
• Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
• School Ties (1992)
• Rising Son (1990)
• Mystic Pizza (1988)
Cameo
• Eurotrip (2004)
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Featured
• Split Screen (2003)
Producer
• Monster (2003)
• Stolen Summer (2002)
Screenwriter
• Gerry (2003)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
Voice
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
• Titan A.E. (2000)
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