Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s friendship and working partnership really does go all the way back to high school.
At a Q&A after a New York screening of their latest project, “Air,” the duo joked about working together for almost 40 years.
Affleck, who directs and stars in the film with Damon, joked, “It’s not the first time I’ve carried him,” according to IndieWire.
Damon laughed, saying, “It might seem like the first time he’s directed me. I mean, we did high-school plays where he was like, ‘Dude, I think you should do it like this.'”
“He’s been directing me for like 40-something years,” he added.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon premiered “Air” at South by Southwest earlier this month. (Tim Mosenfelder)
Their new movie, “Air,” tells the story of Nike signing NBA legend Michael Jordan for a sneaker deal that would change the business and popular culture. The film also stars Jason Bateman and Viola Davis as Jordan’s mom.
Though they joked about working together, Damon said this was the logical next step.
“Honestly, it was kind of a natural progression,” Damon said. “We’ve written a bunch of movies and produced and acted together for so many years and decades, so it didn’t feel any different, working this way.”
Affleck added, “We’ve gotten that question a lot, I keep thinking, ‘Should it have felt different?’ Because it felt exactly the same. And what was really wonderful about it was, I love and trust Matt so much, and it was so lovely to be working together, it was kind of like a feeling of, I want the other actors to feel [this too]. Like, ‘Come on, it’s all good, I love actors, I love you, you’re going to be OK, everyone, take as much time as you want, do what you need to do and be respected,’ and to kind of project that energy.”
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have known each other since their high school days in Boston. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd.)
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Affleck and Damon met while growing up in Boston and graduated from the same high school (Damon in 1992, Affleck in 1994).
They first appeared together in 1992’s “School Ties” before their big break with “Good Will Hunting” five years later. Damon and Affleck not only starred in the film together, but they also wrote the script which earned them the best original screenplay Oscar at the 70th Academy Awards.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won best original screenplay at “Good Will Hunting” at the 1998 Oscars. ( TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Affleck recently shared the importance of his friendship with Damon in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I suppose the reason it works is that I trust him and love him, and I know that this is somebody with integrity,” he said. “In this business, failure is hard, and success is confusing and can make you lose your bearings. Having that friendship as a touchstone over the years was really meaningful.”
He also revealed that they were advised not to work together after “Good Will Hunting.”
“One of the things we reflected on when we did ‘The Last Duel’ that caused us to want to do this company together was the fact that we wished we’d kept working together more over the years,” Affleck told the outlet. “We fell prey to this idea that, ‘Well, if you don’t individuate your careers and do your own things, people will always associate you together. That will be limiting.'”
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon attend the red carpet of the movie “The Last Duel” during the 78th Venice International Film Festival in 2021. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
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The pair recently co-founded a new production company, Artists Equity, which is producing “Air.”
“Air,” will be in theaters on April 5 before streaming on Amazon Prime.
