Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been best friends forever. They won Oscars together for Good Will Hunting after meeting in high school and deciding to pursue acting careers together. They've both gone on to have extremely successful careers, and now, the iconic duo is collaborating once again on the Michael Jordan film, Air, which Affleck directs and they both star in. Not only are audiences excited to see the besties work together again, and the film's director couldn't help but gush over the experience he had working with Damon again.
Damon and Affleck sat down with CBS This Morning to talk about their new film Air, and their partnership that has spanned 40+ years of friendship. When discussing what it was like to work together again, Affleck couldn't help but gush about the Jason Bourne actor and their unique working relationship. Affleck explained:
It’s like a common frame of reference right? I find the most wonderful thing about it was I loved coming to work every day. I loved seeing Matt. First of all, he’s a genius. Having him as the anchor of your movie, just makes it… [jokes] I didn’t used to think this [about Matt]. But it just makes it so easy. And it was just so much fun. I dunno, it kind of felt just like us and getting to do the thing that we wanted to do. I loved it. I miss it every day since. It was the best work experience of my life, without a question.
Affleck went on to explain that as they move further into a new career chapter, they see themselves wanting to be around each other even more:
That’s one of the things that we kind of wanted to do. Like, why aren’t we hanging out and spending more time together, since we managed to stay friends this whole time.
These two are also famously hilarious together, and they couldn’t help but joke about how they are essentially growing old together. Damon quickly added to Affleck’s sentiment:
- Damon: Plus, we hit our fifties. So.
- Affleck: There’s not much time left.
- Damon: You can see the end of the tunnel.
While they're clearly joking, and will likely continue to work for decades to come, it's worth noting just how long Affleck and Damon have been in the industry. The famous duo caught widespread attention back in 1997 when they wrote Good Will Hunting together. It was an effort to write roles they wanted to play in order to jump-start their acting careers. The script won them both Academy Awards, it sparked a worldwide fascination with the duo, and helped launch their careers. The superstars went on to collaborate a number of times post-Good Will Hunting including Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and The Last Duel, which they co-wrote with Nicole Holofcener. In addition, they founded a production company together, and they executive produced a reality competition show titled Project Greenlight. I think it’s safe to say that these boys from Boston are bonded for life.
Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Alex Convery
Cast: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker
Release Date/Platform: April 5th in theaters.
Their latest film Air is about the partnership between Nike and Michael Jordan which led to the legendary Air Jordan sneaker line. Matt Damon plays Sonny Vaccaro, who bet his career on the corporate collaboration with Jordan, who was a rookie at the time. Affleck plays Phil Knight, the founder of Nike who needs to be convinced that the sneaker line is good for the company. The film also stars Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, and Jason Bateman among others. Air is Affleck’s fifth directorial feat, as he previously helmed Gone Baby Gone, Argo, The Town, and Live By Night, and it's his first time directing Damon.
If you want to check out the movie that Affleck called one of the best working experiences, you can check out Air when it hits theaters on April 5, or you can wait a little longer to stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription. The film premiered at the SXSW to rave reviews, so it will definitely be worth a trip to your local movie theater when it opens nationwide. For more information on other movies coming to cinemas and streaming in the near future, make sure to consult CinemaBlend’s 2023 movie release schedule.
