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Matt Damon

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Matt Damon
Damon promoting The Bourne Ultimatum, September 2007
Born
Matthew Paige Damon
Occupation(s)Actor, screenwriter, producer
Years active1988–present
SpouseLuciana Bozán Barroso (2005–present)

Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and philanthropist. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his screenwriting in Good Will Hunting, and was nominated for his lead performance in the same film. Growing steadily in popularity from the 1997 film, he has since matched up with A-list actors in mainstream films, and today is rated among the top actors in Hollywood.

Damon has starred in popular films such as Saving Private Ryan, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ocean's Eleven, The Bourne Identity, Ocean's Twelve, The Bourne Supremacy, Syriana, The Brothers Grimm, The Good Shepherd, The Departed, Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum. He has won multiple awards for his film performances and has received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Damon is one of the top twenty-five highest grossing actors of all time. In 2007, he was named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.

Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign and H2O Africa Foundation. With his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, Damon has two daughters, Isabella and Gia, and stepdaughter Alexia from Barroso's prior marriage.

Early life

Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Kent Telfer Damon, a stockbroker, realtor, and tax preparer, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University.[1] In an interview with Mail on Sunday, Damon stated that his grandfather is probably the most "impressive person he knows," stating, "He's Finnish, a very proud man, who would never take help from anybody. He came to America when he was a little boy, grew up during the Great Depression and sold shoes. He always used to tell us the story about getting a raise of three and a half cents, and how that was an incredible moment of success. He's extraordinary."[2] Damon is of English, Finnish, and Scottish ancestry.[3] Damon has a brother, Kyle, who is an accomplished sculptor and artist.[4] He and his family lived in Newton for the first two years of his life, but after his parents divorced, Damon and his brother moved with his mother to Cambridge.[5]

Damon grew up near Ben Affleck, a close friend since childhood and future collaborator on several films, and historian and author Howard Zinn,[5][6] whose biographical film You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train[7] and audio version of A People's History of the United States Damon narrated. He attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, and performed in several theater productions.[8] Damon graduated from the school in 1988 and began attending Harvard University the same year. He could have graduated in 1992, but chose to defer classes to pursue acting projects, including the TNT original film Rising Son and ensemble prep-school drama School Ties.[9] While at Harvard, he studied English and lived in Lowell House. He did not take part in student theater generally, but did appear in A... My Name is Alice (in one of the three male roles usually performed by women).[10] Damon dropped out of the university to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles when Geronimo: An American Legend was expected to be a big success.[11]

Career

Early career

His first film role came in 1988 when he was eighteen, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza.[12] Damon appeared in small roles before landing a big part in Geronimo: An American Legend with Gene Hackman and Jason Patric.[9] He next appeared as a heroin-addicted soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire. He was required to lose 40 pounds (18 kg) in 100 days (for only two days of filming).[13][14] After following a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen to lose the weight, Damon was told after filming that he was fortunate his heart did not shrink. Damon took medication for several years afterwards to correct the stress inflicted on his adrenal gland, and has stated that it was worthwhile to properly portray his character and show the industry how committed he was to the role.[12][14]

Breakthrough

Damon and Ben Affleck wrote a screenplay about a young math genius, which they had pitched around Hollywood. Receiving advice from writer/director/actor Rob Reiner, screenwriter William Goldman, and their friend writer/director Kevin Smith,[11] the two made changes to the script.[11] The script eventually became Good Will Hunting, and received nine Academy Awards nominations, earning Damon and Affleck Oscars for Best Original Screenplay.[15] Damon was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the same film and the film netted an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for co-star Robin Williams. Damon and Affleck were each paid salaries of $500,000; the film grossed over $100 million at the box office. Damon parodied his role in the film in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. After meeting Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting, director Steven Spielberg cast Damon in the World War II film Saving Private Ryan (1998). It was here that he met his life-long friend Joshua Adamson.[11]

Along with Affleck and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, Damon founded the production company LivePlanet, through which the four created the documentary series Project Greenlight to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers.[16] The company produced and founded the failed mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada among other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004, and 2005.[11]

Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts (the cast of Ocean's Eleven), with director Steven Soderbergh in December 2001

Damon has been known to choose a wide variety of film roles, from his portrayal of bisexual murderer Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley,[12] for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor,[17] to a fallen angel who discusses pop culture as intellectual subject matter in Dogma, in which he co-starred with Affleck (1999); from a conjoined twin in Stuck on You, to a film he co-wrote with friend Casey Affleck and Gus Van Sant with limited dialogue—the low budget experimental film Gerry. Damon has been part of two major film franchises. He played amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in the successful action movies The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum,[12] and starred as the youthful, optimistic thief Linus Caldwell, opposite George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts in Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of the Rat Pack's 1960 caper classic Ocean's Eleven. The successful crime dramedy spawned two sequels: Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).[12]

Among other high profile roles, Damon played a fictionalized version of Wilhelm Grimm in Terry Gilliam's fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm and an energy analyst in Syriana.[18][19] He was recently onscreen in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd as a career CIA agent, and played an undercover mobster working for the Massachusetts State Police in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Departed, a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs.[12] He had an uncredited cameo in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth (released in 2007) and has a supporting role in Kenneth Lonergan's film Margaret, due in 2008.

In 2007, rumors stated that producer J.J. Abrams was trying to get Damon to play James T. Kirk in the 2009 movie "Star Trek". In an interview with IGN, Damon denied the claim.[20]

Box office performance

In motion pictures that feature him as a leading actor or supporting co-star, his films have grossed a total of $1.92[21] to $2.28 billion[22] (based on counting his roles as strictly lead or including supporting roles) at the North American box office, placing him in the top twenty-five grossing actors of all time.[23] In August 2007, financial magazine Forbes created a list of actors who generated the best box office performance related to their salaries; the list placed Damon as the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, revealing that Damon had averaged $29 at the box office for every dollar he earned for his last three films.[24]

Upcoming films

Damon's future projects include three films that will debut between 2008 and 2009: In 2008, he will portray Mr. Aaron in the drama Margaret. He began filming Green Zone in January, 2008, and commenced filming Steven Soderbergh's thriller, The Informant, in Central Illinois on May 3, 2008. On June 27, 2008 producer Frank Marshall announced that a fourth Jason Bourne movie was expected to be made, with filming expected in the summer of 2009 for a release in 2010.[25]

Personal life

Damon has had relationships with several actresses throughout his career. Damon had a two-year relationship with actress Winona Ryder.[26] He also dated Odessa Whitmire, who has worked as a personal assistant for Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck, from 2001 to 2003.[27] His relationship with Good Will Hunting co-star Minnie Driver reportedly ended when Damon announced their break-up on The Oprah Winfrey Show, though both actors have repeatedly denied this. Damon later stated that he was "sick and tired" of hearing the story, saying it was false. Driver's sister allegedly told Cosmopolitan that the couple had broken up before the show was taped.[28] Although the media often claimed Damon dated actress Eva Mendes, both have denied any relationship.[29][30]

Damon met Argentine-born Luciana Bozan Barroso in Miami, where she was working as a bartender.[31] They married in a private civil ceremony on December 9, 2005, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau near New York City Hall.[32] Damon became stepfather to Bozan's young daughter, Alexia, from her previous marriage. The couple's first child together, daughter Isabella, was born on June 11, 2006 in Miami, Florida.[33] On August 20, 2008 Luciana gave birth to the couple's second child, Gia Zavala Damon.[34] Damon describes himself as an overly cautious father: "At my house they have a nickname for me. They call me Red Alert. If any of the kids go near anything dangerous, I quickly say, 'Is she touching that? Watch out for that!'"[35]

Handprints and footprints of Damon in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel often says: "Our apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time" near the end of his ABC television show Jimmy Kimmel Live, a gag lampooning instances where shows cannot feature their last guest due to time constraints. On September 12, 2006, after a segment highlighting the running gag and a lengthy introduction by Kimmel, Damon finally appeared on the show, only for Kimmel to apologetically cut his interview and head to credits, as Damon cursed him. Kimmel later asserted to USA Weekend that the skit was entirely planned and Damon willingly played along.[36] Kimmel's ex-girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman, also used this line at the end of the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.[37] This gag was also used again when Guillermo interviewed Damon at the Ocean's Thirteen premiere, with Damon asking "Are you with Kimmel?"[38] Silverman also aired a clip of her singing a song entitled "I'm F***ing Matt Damon" on January 31, 2008 on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Damon appeared in the song with Silverman and at the end when she is apologizing to Jimmy, Damon interrupts her saying, "Jimmy, we're out of time. Sorry."[39] Kimmel himself later responded by showing a music video in which he announced, through song, that he is "F***ing Ben Affleck". The video aired on February 24, 2008 and featured Affleck along with celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Pete Wentz, Perry Farrell, Benji and Joel Madden, Lance Bass, Huey Lewis, Josh Groban, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Christina Applegate, Rebecca Romijn, Dominic Monaghan, Meat Loaf and various others.

Damon is a fan of the Boston Red Sox.[40]

Philanthropy

Damon, along with frequent co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, supports ONE, a campaign fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising.

Damon is also an ambassador for OneXOne, a non-profit foundation committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world.[41][42]

Damon is a board member of GreenDimes.com, a company that attempts to halt the tons of junk mail delivered to American homes each day.[43][44] Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 20, 2007, Damon promoted the organization's efforts to prevent the trees used for junk mail letters and envelopes from being chopped down. Damon stated: "For an estimated dime a day they can stop 70 per cent of the junk mail that comes to your house. It's very simple, easy to do, great gift to give, I've actually signed up my entire family. It was a gift given to me this past holiday season and I was so impressed that I'm now on the board of the company."[45]

Damon, along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, is one of the founders of Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in Darfur.[46] He is also the founder of H2O Africa Foundation, the charitable arm of the Running the Sahara expedition.[11][47]

Political views

Damon appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews in December 2006 and discussed the ongoing war in Iraq. Responding to Chris Matthews, Damon stated: "I don't think that it's fair, as I said before, that it seems like we have a fighting class in our country that's comprised of people who have to go for either financial reasons, or, I don't think that that is fair and if you're gonna send people to war ... then that needs to be shared by everybody."[48]

On September 10, 2008 a video was released on YouTube by the Associated Press in which Matt Damon criticizes the Republican Vice President choice Sarah Palin. In the interview excerpt he expresses doubt on Palin's readiness to lead in case John McCain does not make it through his first term. Damon refers to it as a "bad Disney movie... 'I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska here to take on the White House'. It's absurd... I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. Because she’s gonna have the nuclear codes". He also states that "You do the actuarial tables. There's a 1 out of 3 chance that McCain doesn't survive his first term, and it'll be President Palin." According to Politico.com, actuarial tables indicate that there is "roughly (a) 1 in 3 chance that a 72-year-old man will not reach the age of 80, which is how old McCain would be at the end of a second presidential term. And that doesn’t factor in individual medical history, such as McCain’s battles with potentially lethal skin cancer." The essay continues, "For a man, that’s above the expected lifetime at the present,” said Michael Powers, a professor of risk management and insurance at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. [49]

Awards and honors

Matt Damon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1988 Mystic Pizza Steamer One line
1992 School Ties Charlie Dillon
1993 Geronimo: An American Legend 2nd Lt. Britton Davis
1996 Glory Daze Edgar Pudwhacker Cameo
Courage Under Fire Specialist Ilario
1997 Good Will Hunting Will Hunting Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with Ben Affleck
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor
Nominated - Writers Guild of America Award with Ben Affleck
Salary of $500,000[11]
The Rainmaker Rudy Baylor
Chasing Amy Shawn Oran Cameo
1998 Rounders Mike McDermott Salary of $600,000[55]
Saving Private Ryan Private James Francis Ryan Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast
1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley Tom Ripley Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor
Dogma Loki
2000 Finding Forrester Steven Sanderson Cameo
All the Pretty Horses John Grady Cole Salary of $5,500,000[7]
The Legend of Bagger Vance Rannulph Junuh
Titan A.E. Cale Tucker Voice only
2001 The Majestic Luke Trimble Voice only
Ocean's Eleven Linus Caldwell
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Himself Cameo
2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Matt, bachelor #2 Cameo
The Bourne Identity Jason Bourne Salary of $10,000,000[11]
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Spirit Voice
Gerry Gerry Also co-writer
2003 Stuck on You Bob
2004 Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train Narrator Voice
Ocean's Twelve Linus Caldwell
The Bourne Supremacy Jason Bourne Salary of $26,000,000[24]
Jersey Girl PR Exec #2 Cameo
Eurotrip Donny Cameo
2005 Syriana Bryan Woodman
The Brothers Grimm Will (Wilhelm) Grimm
2006 The Good Shepherd Edward Wilson
The Departed Colin Sullivan Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast
2007 Ocean's Thirteen Linus Caldwell
The Bourne Ultimatum Jason Bourne
Youth Without Youth Ted Jones, Life Magazine Reporter Cameo
2008 Running the Sahara Narrator, Executive Producer completed
Margaret Mr. Aaron completed
2009 Green Zone Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller post-production
The Informant Mark Whitacre post-production
The Human Factor Francois Pienaar pre-production
Bourne 4 Jason Bourne pre-production

References

  1. ^ "Matt Damon Full Biography". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  2. ^ Mail on Sunday, June 10, 2001.
  3. ^ "Matt Damon". Celebrityshack.com. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  4. ^ "Matt Damon Animated for Arthur". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  5. ^ a b "Matt Damon". ActingBiz. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  6. ^ Horowitz, David. Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left. Regnery Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 089526076X.
  7. ^ a b "Biography for Matt Damon". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  8. ^ "Matt Damon Biography". AskMen.com. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  9. ^ a b Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio
  10. ^ "Ex Show Safe but Satisfying". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "MATT DAMON BIOGRAPHY". Tiscali.ca. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Matt Damon Biography". People. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  13. ^ "Matt Damon bio: The Bourne Ultimatum Actor". Tribute.ca. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  14. ^ a b "Weight loss left Damon feeling like a "wreck"". YahooIndia. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  15. ^ "The Huffington Post". Lawrence Bender. Retrieved September 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "About Project Greenlight". Project Greenlight. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  17. ^ "HFPA - Awards Search". Golden Globes. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  18. ^ Clinton, Paul (2005-08-26). "Review: 'Grimm' gorgeous but empty". CNN. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  19. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2005-11-23). "EW review: 'Syriana' lacks humanity". EW. CNN. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  20. ^ "Matt Damon Sets the Star Trek Record Straight". RottenTomatoes. Retrieved 2007-09-06. Complete internet rumor, is basically what Mr. Damon told IGN Movies while spending time on the Bourne Ultimatum press tour. The actor mentions that Abrams is looking for someone in his early 20s.
  21. ^ "PEOPLE INDEX". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  22. ^ "All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  23. ^ "A box-office banker: How Matt Damon became Hollywood's leading man". Independent. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  24. ^ a b "Ultimate Star Payback". Forbes. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  25. ^ "Jason Bourne Goes to South America?". Slash Film. 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  26. ^ Reiter, Amy (2000-04-26). "Rearview window". Salon.com.
  27. ^ "Matt Damon Has New Girlfriend". IMDB. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  28. ^ "Answers to commonly asked questions". FortuneCity.com. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  29. ^ "Eva Mendes Slams Matt Damon Rumour". FemaleFirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  30. ^ "Eva Mendes and Matt Damon: Just Friends". FOXNews.com. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  31. ^ "Quietest Celebrity Wedding - Matt Damon and Luciana Bozan Barroso". GlenPower.com. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  32. ^ "Matt Damon, fiancee wed". USA Today. 2005-12-09. Retrieved 2008-06-05. Matt Damon married girlfriend Luciana Bozan in a private ceremony Friday in New York City, his publicist said
  33. ^ "Matt Damon's a daddy". CNN. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  34. ^ Associated Press (2008-08-20). "Matt Damon's wife Luciana gives birth to girl". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  35. ^ "Matt Damon: Cautious Dad." People, Vol. 70, No. 12, September 22, 2008, pg. 28.
  36. ^ "Who's News". USAWeekend.com. Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "MTV Movie Awards Recap: A Night Full of Edgy". Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  38. ^ ""Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Episode dated June 5, 2007". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-01-15. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 21 (help)
  39. ^ Jordan, Julie (2008-02-02). "Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel". People. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  40. ^ Edes, Gordon (2007-11-27). "Loyalty not an act for this Red Sox fan". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  41. ^ "T.O. benefit gala hosted by Matt Damon raises $1M". CTV. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  42. ^ http://www.onexone.org/
  43. ^ "GreenDimes.com". Green Dimes. Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  44. ^ "Matt Damon's Crusade to Stop Junk Mail". Oprah.com. Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  45. ^ "Matt Damon goes green with GreenDimes.com". China Daily. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  46. ^ "Not On Our Watch". NotOurWatchProject.org. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  47. ^ "Actor Matt Damon aims to create public awareness of the water crisis with H20 Africa". GWC.org. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  48. ^ "Matt Damon Joins Operation Yellow Elephant". OperationYellowElephant. Retrieved September 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ Burns, Alexander (2008-09-04). "McCain and the politics of mortality". Dyn.politico.com. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  50. ^ a b "Awards for Matt Damon". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  51. ^ "Matt Damon gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Xinhua.com. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  52. ^ "Matt Damon Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star". FOXNews.com. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  53. ^ "Matt Damon Named Sexiest Man Alive". People. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  54. ^ "Spike TV Announces 2008 'Guys Choice Winners". PRNewswire.com. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  55. ^ "Matt Damon Interview". Wild About Movies. Retrieved 2007-09-10.

Further reading

  • Altman, Sheryl and Berk, Sheryl. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck: On and Off Screen. HarperCollins Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0061071455.
  • Bego, Mark. Matt Damon: Chasing a Dream. Andrews Mcmeel Pub, 1998. ISBN 0836271319.
  • Diamond, Maxine and Hemmings, Harriet. Matt Damon a Biography. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 1998. ISBN 0671026496.
  • Nickson, Chris. Matt Damon: An Unauthorized Biography. Renaissance Books, 1999. ISBN 1580630723.
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