5 Interesting Facts About Matt Damon, Actor, Producer, and Philanthropist

Award-winning actor Matt Damon is one of Hollywood’s most successful stars, as he is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has starred in many films that have been commercially and critically acclaimed. But there’s more to him than just his thirty-three-year career, as he’s also leading quite an interesting life.

Here are five facts you should know about Matt Damon.

He first appeared on screen in the 1988 film Mystic Pizza

After his first minor screen role, he appeared mostly in a series of supporting roles, until he was cast as the lead of the 1997 drama The Rainmaker. His bigger break came later that year in the classic film Good Will Hunting, where he was nominated for Best Actor. He then played the titular roles in the films Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

In the 2000s, Damon joined two lucrative film franchises, starring as con man Linus Caldwell in the Ocean’s trilogy and amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise. His other notable films include The Departed (2007), The Informant! (2009), The Martian (2015), The Great Wall (2017), and Ford v Ferrari (2019).

He became an Academy Award-winning screenplay writer at age 27

While taking a playwriting class at Harvard University, Damon wrote a 40-page script titled Good Will Hunting, instead of a one-act play. When he stayed in Los Angeles with good friend Ben Affleck, he further developed the script, completing it in 1994. The movie, starring Damon and Affleck, was released on December 5, 1997.

Because of the substantial premise and emotionally rich acting, the film became a critically-acclaimed sleeper hit, garnering nine Oscar nominations, with Damon winning the Best Original Screenplay with Affleck. He then went on to write more films, including Gerry (2002), Promised Land (2012), and the upcoming film The Last Duel.

He established two production companies with Ben Affleck

In 2000, Damon and Affleck, along with producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, founded the production company LivePlanet. This company released hits like American Pie 2 and Push, Nevada, and the Emmy-nominated documentary series Project Greenlight, which focused on giving first-time filmmakers the chance to direct a feature film.

Seven years later, Affleck and Damon ended their film production deal, but in 2010, they continued producing through their Warner Bros.-based production company, Pearl Street Films.

He is a poker player, both on- and off-screen

In 1998, he starred in the film Rounders, which explored the underground world of high-stakes poker. With the poker boom coming a few years after the film’s release, Rounders became a cult hit, with professional poker players crediting its influence in their careers.

However, this passion for poker goes beyond Damon’s filmography. In fact, he has competed in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events, including the 2009 WSOP main event and 2012 WSOP with Ben Affleck. Just last year, the duo even brought together Hollywood and sports A-listers to raise funds for pandemic relief through an online charity poker tournament. The event was hosted on Americas Cardroom, one of the most popular online platforms for playing poker with friends. The app allows players across all 50 states to play, which served well as big names like Tom Brady, Adam Sandler, and Tobey Maguire all participated.

He does humanitarian and environmental work

In 2006, Damon founded the H2O Africa Foundation, part of the Running the Sahara expedition that aims to raise awareness about clean water initiatives in Africa. The foundation later on merged with WaterPartners to create Water.org in 2009.

The actor, alongside several celebrities, also founded Not On Our Watch Project and showed support to One Campaign, which aims to fight AIDS and poverty particularly in third-world countries. Moreover, Damon is a spokesperson for Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization, and a board member of Tonic Mailstopper, which stops American consumers from receiving additional junk mail every day.

Although Matt Damon is a household name in Hollywood, most people only know him for his acting chops. But he is also leaving his legacy through art, entertainment, and philanthropy. 

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