Born Matthew Paige Damon
October 8, 1970 (age 45)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor, filmmaker, philanthropist
Years active 1988–present
Spouse(s) Luciana Bozán Barroso
(2005–present)
Children 3, 1 stepdaughter
Matthew Paige “Matt” Damon (/ˈdeɪmən/; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and filmmaker. Damon and Ben Affleck wrote an Academy Award-winning screenplay, Good Will Hunting (1997), which he also starred in. He is among Forbes magazine’s most bankable stars and one of the top-40 highest-grossing actors of all time. In addition to the many awards Damon has received, including Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007 for his work in the film industry.
Damon has become known for his versatility, starring in commercially and critically successful films such as the rogue secret agent Jason Bourne in the Bourne series, the youthful thief Linus Caldwell in the Ocean’s Trilogy, the anti-hero in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a fallen angel in Dogma (1999), a soldier fighting in France in Saving Private Ryan (1998) and an astronaut stranded on an alien planet in The Martian (2015). He won further critical acclaim for his performances in dramas such as Syriana (2005) and The Good Shepherd (2006), as well as for his role as a villain in the neo-noir crime drama The Departed (2006).
Damon has also performed voice-over work and established several production companies. Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, Feeding America, and Water.org. With his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, Damon has three daughters and a stepdaughter from Barroso’s prior marriage.
Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second son of Kent Telfer Damon (born 1942), a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige (born 1944), an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. His father is of English and Scottish descent, and his mother is of five eighths Finnish and three eighths Swedish ancestry (his mother’s family surname had been changed from the Finnish “Pajari” to “Paige”). Damon and his family moved to Newton for two years. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and Damon and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge, where they lived in a six-family communal house. His brother Kyle is now an accomplished sculptor and artist.
As a lonely adolescent, Damon has said that he felt that he did not belong. Due to his mother’s “by the book” approach to child-rearing, he had a hard time defining a self identity. He attended Cambridge Alternative School (now Graham and Parks) and then Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where he was a good student, but had a “terrifying” first two years due to his short stature. Damon performed as an actor in several high school theater productions. He credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as an important artistic influence, even though Ben Affleck, his good friend and schoolmate, got the “biggest roles and longest speeches”. Damon is Affleck’s tenth cousin, once removed, through a common New England ancestor.
Damon attended Harvard University, where he was a member of the class of 1992, but left before receiving his degree in order to take a lead role in the film School Ties. While at Harvard he wrote an early treatment of the screenplay for Good Will Hunting as an exercise for an English class. Damon was a member of the Delphic Club, one of the University’s select Final Clubs. In 2013, he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal. Damon received an Academy Award for the screenplay of Good Will Hunting in 1998, which was handed to him by fellow Harvard alumnus Jack Lemmon, who had also been a member of Harvard’s Delphic Club.
Damon dated his Good Will Hunting co-star Minnie Driver. He later had a two-year relationship with actress Winona Ryder. From 2001 to 2003, he dated Odessa Whitmire, the former personal assistant of Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck.
Damon met Argentine bartender Luciana Bozán Barroso (born 1976) in April, 2003 while filming Stuck on You in Miami. They became engaged in September, 2005 and married in a private civil ceremony on December 9, 2005, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. The couple have three daughters: Isabella (b. 2006), Gia Zavala (b. 2008) and Stella Zavala (b. 2010). He also has a step-daughter, Alexia Barroso (b. 1999), from Luciana’s previous marriage. Since 2012, they have lived in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, having previously lived in Miami and New York.
Damon is a fan of the Boston Red Sox. After the team won the 2007 World Series, he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event. He enjoys playing poker and has competed in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events, including the 2010 World Series of Poker main event. He spent $25,000 at the WSOP while researching his role as a professional poker player in Rounders (1998) and, after finishing the film, was busted out of the 1998 WSOP by poker professional Doyle Brunson.
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