Are Matt Damon’s and Ben Affleck’s Kids Friends?
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck might just take the cake as Hollywood’s most popular friendship. The two made their big breaks when they co-wrote and starred together in Good Will Hunting. However, their close bond goes back years before they even made it to Hollywood. Because of Damon and Affleck’s lifelong friendship, many fans have to wonder: do their kids share the same bond?
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck each have three kids
Damon and Affleck started their own families around the same time as each other. Affleck married his Pearl Harbor co-star, Jennifer Garner, in 2005. Just a few months later, in December, Damon tied the knot with Luciana Barroso, whom he met at a bar while filming Stuck on You.
Before Affleck and Garner’s divorce in 2018, the couple had three children together. Their oldest daughter, Violet, was born in 2005. The actors welcomed another daughter, Seraphina, in 2009, followed by a son named Samuel in 2012.
In a 2020 interview with Access, Affleck revealed that being a father has become the “most important thing” to him.
“I’m definitely a father first. My life right now is focused on, for sure, being a dad, and that’s the most important thing to me,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Damon and Barroso have three daughters together. They first welcomed Isabella in 2006, followed by Gia in 2008. Finally, their youngest, Stella, arrived in 2010. Damon is also a stepfather to Barroso’s daughter, Alexia, who was born in 1999.
Like Affleck, fatherhood made a positive impact on Damon. The Stillwater star revealed to Parade that his heart feels “full” because of his kids.
The only way I can describe it — it sounds stupid, but — at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you know how his heart grows like five times?” Damon said. “Everything is full; It’s just full all the time.”
Do their kids get along?
It seems Damon and Affleck’s friendship has carried over to their kids. The actors have yet to comment on their children’s bond, but the families have spent plenty of time together.
During a 2017 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Affleck revealed that he, his brother Casey Affleck, and Damon all spent a holiday together, their families included. The group headed to Montana for a skiing trip.
“I’m at the point now where all of our children are better skiers than I am. Because they’re this big, they’re low to the ground,” he joked. “It doesn’t hurt when they fall. I’m kind of going along, taking it easy. So I just pretend that I take it easy on purpose.”
When asked which of Damon’s and Affleck’s six kids is the most well-behaved, Affleck admitted that Damon’s kids tend to behave better.
“I have the world’s greatest mom,” he said, referring to Garner, “but even she cannot conquer the obstacles there. Matt’s kids are pretty well-behaved. My brother’s kids are. They’re all great kids.”
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck became friends when they were kids
Affleck and Damon became globally recognized as best pals after Good Will Hunting, but, like their kids, their friendship began when they were children. Affleck was 10 at the time, while Damon was 8, as Affleck revealed to Parade. The two lived down the street from each other and attended school in Massachusetts together.
Eventually, the two shared a goal of joining the entertainment industry. Damon once got jealous of a role Affleck received when they were kids, but Affleck ultimately credits his best friend as the reason he started acting professionally.
“As a teenager, the natural thing is to have friends who have common interests, so you fit together seamlessly. Before Matt, I was by myself. Acting was a solo activity where I’d just go off and do something, act in a little TV show or something, and no one understood it,” Affleck told Parade. “None of the other kids knew what it was I did, how it worked, or anything. All of a sudden, I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it’s interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it.”
