Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are known to have been friends for a long time. They both grew up in the same neighborhood and their mothers already knew each other.
What’s more, they were the ones who introduced them when Matt was 10 years old and Ben was 8. At first, they played together from time to time, but their friendship strengthened when they entered high school and both began to be part of their theater department school.
In the mid-1990s, the two moved together to Los Angeles, where they began writing the script for Untamed Mind. This film brought the pair of friends to stardom and earned them their first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1998. However, before winning such an award, things were not always easy for Ben and Matt. In fact, they both revealed that at the beginning of their careers, they had so little money that they put all their earnings into a shared bank account to support each other.
“It was unusual, but we needed the money for the auditions,” Matt said. “We were going to help each other and be there for each other,” they mentioned, making it clear that one was not going to succeed without the other. “It was like: ‘You’re not going to be alone. I won’t be alone. Let’s do this together.’”
When asked about how such an arrangement worked, they pointed out that every time one of them managed to be hired to play a role, he deposited all of his earnings into the shared account to, in this way, finance future auditions for both of them. “As long as one of us had money, we knew they weren’t going to turn off our power,” Matt said. “After making Geronimo: An American Legend, I had about $35,000 in the bank. “I thought we would be fine for a year.”
However, this account had a set of strict guidelines, although they didn’t always stick to them. “We were allowed to travel to New York for auditions with that money. We could also withdraw $10 to play video games,” Matt said.
Apparently, this tactic worked for the best, as it didn’t ruin Ben and Matt’s friendship. 30 years after that, they are closer than ever. These best friends are currently promoting their new film, AIR: The Story Behind the Logo, which tells how Nike executives revolutionized the brand by teaming up with famous basketball player Michael Jordan.
During a recent interview, Ben described working with Matt every day as the best professional experience of his life. “I think the most wonderful thing was that I loved going to work every day. I love seeing Matt,” he said. “It was fun. He felt like it was just us and we could do whatever we wanted,” he continued. “I miss him every day since then. It was the best work experience of my life, without a doubt.”
