Damon, 52, joked that Affleck's been directing him "for 40 years," but to bash truthful successful this authoritative capacity, with cameras rolling and everything, was "really exciting. It was the champion summertime occupation I ever had."

Affleck, 50, echoed the sentiment, adding, "If you're lucky, you tin find a mode to enactment with radical that you emotion and then, arsenic they say, you ne'er enactment different time successful your life."

Happily, the April 5 merchandise of Air—the archetypal offering from their caller shingle, Artists Equity—is conscionable the opening of the enactment they program to bash together. And it's the latest section of what's proved to beryllium a beauteous friendship, 1 that started successful Cambridge, Mass., erstwhile Affleck was 8 and Damon 10 and their families lived conscionable a fewer streets distant from each other.

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Affleck was calved successful Berkeley, Calif., before ma Chris and dada Tim (who divorced successful the aboriginal '80s) moved him backmost East, wherever younger brother Casey Affleck was calved successful 1975. Damon, a autochthonal lad of the Bay State, lived with parents Kent and Nancy and older member Kyle.

"My parent is simply a prof of aboriginal puerility development, and she knew Ben's mother—who's a teacher of small kids—and sought her retired aft we moved backmost to Cambridge," Damon told Interview magazine successful 1997, quipping, "so I was beauteous overmuch forced into hanging retired with Ben."

Affleck said helium remembered Damon arsenic "gregarious, outgoing." So, helium added, "It was nary astonishment that helium grew up into the wholly obnoxious feline helium is now. Number one, helium claims that I ne'er struck him retired successful Little League. Which is full bulls--t—I was the champion pitcher successful the league."

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Affleck continued, "When we were teenagers, similar Matt was 16 and I was 14, we'd spell unneurotic down to New York City [to audition]. We'd instrumentality the train. Or sometimes we'd adjacent instrumentality the airplane, backmost erstwhile determination was the Eastern Shuttle oregon People's Express. It outgo similar $20 to alert and you could fume connected the plane. We were smoking similar idiots due to the fact that we thought we were truly expected to beryllium grown up. It was pitiful."

Moreover, Damon told Interview, "We utilized to person what we called 'business lunches' successful precocious school, which meant we met astatine the smaller cafeteria and got a table..." Affleck chimed in, "And worked retired immoderate concern plans. We were truly nerdy. So close present we'd similar to skip up to these somewhat cooler years. Otherwise this is going to get progressively embarrassing."

Damon graduated from precocious schoolhouse successful 1988 and enrolled astatine adjacent Harvard, but 2 years aboriginal Affleck headed to the University of Vermont, "because I had a benignant of unrequited emotion for this precocious schoolhouse girlfriend," Ben explained to Parade. "She wasn't adjacent astatine the assemblage but astatine different schoolhouse nearby. But I thought if I went to a schoolhouse adjacent her, conscionable maybe…I was truly remedial astir girls successful truthful galore ways. Interestingly, determination are immoderate parallels for things to travel successful my life."

(Talking to Parade, Affleck was 2 years into his yet 10-year matrimony to Jennifer Garner, his self-deprecating ways contiguous and accounted for after his debacle of a first engagement to Jennifer Lopez.)

Neither person finished college—Affleck moved to Los Angeles aft a fewer months successful Vermont; Damon lasted 3 years astatine Harvard earlier the siren opus of Hollywood beckoned—but luck was connected their side.

"Matt and I had identical interests, truthful whether we ended up palmy oregon making blistery dogs astatine Dodgers games, we knew we'd extremity up doing the aforesaid benignant of thing," Affleck told Interview of the clip they spent successful antithetic states earlier rooming together successful California. "The remaining friends portion was beauteous consistent. We saw each different each the time, we talked connected the telephone each the time."

And soon enough, they were hanging retired connected set.

Their archetypal movie together, 1992's School Ties, featured Damon's breakout show arsenic a villainous 1950s-era prep schoolhouse snob, after which his turn as a worker successful the escapade epic Geronimo paid their rent for awhile. Affleck started paddling his mode to fame playing bully O'Bannion successful the teen classic Dazed and Confused and showed the perils of teen steroid use in a 1994 occurrence of HBO's Lifestories: Families successful Crisis. And portion juggling auditions and gigs, they leaned into their Cambridge background and cranked out Good Will Hunting, which Damon had started moving connected astatine Harvard portion taking playwriting and theatre absorption classes.

After Damon had been successful L.A. for astir a year, helium told Interview, "Ben and I started talking 1 night, and the publication began flowing close out. Then we wrote it precise fast," sometimes unneurotic and sometimes separately, faxing each different caller pages erstwhile they were apart. They sold it to Castle Rock successful 1994.

"And actually, it was a root of embarrassment for america erstwhile we sold the script," Damon continued, "because a batch of our friends truly are writers and tin constitute a batch amended than we can, but possibly dialogue. Writing a publication is different, though, due to the fact that to maine it's not truly writing. It's acting, is what it is. We inactive don't telephone ourselves writers. We conscionable benignant of go, 'Well, I conjecture that worked.'"

Still, helium told The Guardian in 2015, "I laughed the full clip we wrote. It was a truly joyful experience."

Affleck explained, "If nary 1 other was going to springiness america the accidental to bash the benignant of acting we could do, we decided we'd conscionable marque this movie ourselves—however we could bash it, low-budget, whatever. The full thought was to person a videotape connected the support astatine the extremity of the time and beryllium capable to say, 'We made this.'"

Damon recalled of the bidding warfare that instantly ensued aft they showed the publication to their agent, "It was the archetypal clip we realized however Hollywood works. We'd some gone successful for a batch of auditions, but erstwhile you really person thing that radical are trying to bargain from you, it's a full antithetic thing."

And selling Good Will Hunting was lone the beginning.

"The thought was to bash what was champion for the movie, which was to get it made," Affleck said. "But aft a year, we had a falling-out with [Castle Rock] and they gave the publication backmost to america with a 30-day turnaround period, which meant if we didn't merchantability it wrong 30 days they'd get the movie backmost and would beryllium capable to bash what they wanted with it. It was either marque it with who they were asking america to marque it with oregon instrumentality this risk. We were fundamentally being fired and offered tickets to the premiere of this happening we'd enactment 3 years of our lives into, and which was present starring—"

"Someone who wasn't us," Damon said. After that, their shaper Chris Moore brought Miramax to the project, they got connection that Gus Van Sant wanted to direct, so agelong arsenic they were successful the movie, and then each the pieces started falling into place.

And not conscionable the pieces of their project.

Miramax Films

Evan Agostini/Getty Images

Affleck had besides told Interview during the comparative calm earlier the storm, "I deliberation our parents were acrophobic due to the fact that everybody knows that acting is simply a hard career. I don't deliberation they were that blessed with the imaginable of their kids facing a beingness of rejection and scraping by for a sandwich and hoping we'd get escaped refills astatine the property of 45. But Matt and I were precise straightforward astir wanting to beryllium actors. I truly deliberation that everybody would similar to beryllium an actor. Why wouldn't they? It's large enactment if you tin get it. The 1 happening that prevents astir radical from saying, 'I'm conscionable gonna spell to Hollywood!' is that it seems unrealistic."

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc

Angela Weiss/Getty Images

Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Warner Bros./AP Images

In the aftermath of the slew of intersexual battle and harassment allegations laid retired against Weinstein starting successful October 2017 (he's since been convicted of rape successful New York and Los Angeles and sentenced to 23 and 16 years successful prison, respectively), Affleck and Damon tried to marque it clear that they wanted to beryllium portion of the solution arsenic Hollywood moved forward arsenic a much equitable, inclusive, safe spot to work. 

"We cognize this worldly goes connected successful the world. I did 5 oregon six movies with Harvey. I ne'er saw this," Damon told Deadline. "I deliberation a batch of actors person travel retired and said, 'Everybody's saying we each knew.' That's not true. This benignant of predation happens down closed doors, and retired of nationalist view. If determination was ever an lawsuit that I was astatine and Harvey was doing this benignant of happening and I didn't spot it, past I americium truthful profoundly sorry, due to the fact that I would person stopped it."

Affleck said on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that hearing astir Weinstein's "terrible crimes" did affect however helium felt astir the movies they'd made together. "It sort of tainted that a small spot to recognize portion we were having these experiences and making these movies, determination were radical who were suffering and dealing with atrocious experiences," the histrion said. "I didn't truly cognize what to bash with that, you know? It's hard to know."

He said he'd beryllium donating residuals from his Miramax films to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and Film Independent.

Ultimately, Affleck added, "I thought I had a consciousness of the scope of the occupation and I thought I understood it, and the information is I truly didn't."

Then, successful December 2017, Damon's dad, Kent, died after a agelong bout with cancer, and portion the histrion was devastated, his father's decease deed Affleck truly hard too. 

"The feline is similar a member to maine and determination are ups and downs successful life," Damon shared with People in March 2018 astatine a Water.org lawsuit successful New York. "It was a atrocious twelvemonth for him, too. He was very, precise adjacent to my father, they had a large relationship. Loved each different a lot. So past twelvemonth was nary existent picnic for him either."

That summer, Affleck returned to rehab for 40 days, aft which helium continued with outpatient attraction and the never-ending efforts that spell into the process of staying sober, his enactment strategy from years past by his side—or conscionable a telephone telephone away.

But portion their communal admiration nine had remained intact, it had been awhile since Affleck and Damon past cranked retired the benignant of publication they wanted to make. (Though arsenic they've emphasized recently, arsenic founders of Pearl Street Productions and friends who sought retired the other's sentiment astir respective projects, they were moving unneurotic during that agelong successful different ways.) In immoderate case, in 2019 they got engaged adapting Eric Janger's tale of real-life medieval revenge The Last Duel, with the assistance of writer-filmmaker Nicole Holofcener.

The pandemic-delayed production, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer, with Affleck successful a scene-chewing supporting role, fizzled upon accomplishment successful 2021—but it was well-reviewed and the film's screenwriters realized that, if they wanted to bent retired more, they should astir apt conscionable support moving together.

"The acquisition was truthful amusive and rewarding," Affleck said during a associated interrogation with Damon connected the March 21 occurrence of The Bill Simmons Podcast, "and I realized, having collaborated with different radical successful the interim period...Wow, we truly person a large collaboration. I emotion moving with this feline and I emotion hanging retired with him. And erstwhile you get older and you person kids and you person a life...There's got to beryllium a crushed you're going to permission the location and spell bash something."

They adjacent managed to sprout Air ahead of Affleck and Lopez's 19-years-in-the-making July 2022 vow swap successful Las Vegas, followed by their Georgia wedding a period later, which Damon and his woman attended.

"How other would I be?" Damon quipped connected The Jess Cagle Show when quizzed astir the awe-inspiring resurgence of Bennifer successful 2021. "Like, would I beryllium unhappy? Like, 'I hatred existent love.'"

He added, deadpan, "I privation them thing but, you know, hardship."

It's each bully vibes now, though, with Air getting large reviews and America moving connected Affleck and Damon's 40 years of friendship.

Asked about their renewed committedness to collaborate whenever possible, Damon explained to Bill Simmons past month, "If we don't commencement getting proactive astir moving together, we're not going to enactment together. And what an insane accidental to adjacent have, to beryllium capable to enactment unneurotic astatine this signifier of our lives and careers is f--king amazing. Why not avail ourselves of that?"

Added Affleck, "The lone happening I could ideate to beryllium amended is moving with your kids, and I'm beauteous definite my kids person ruled that out."