The life and career of Matt Damon
Matt Damon, otherwise known as Matthew Paige Damon, is a charismatic and world-famous American actor, born on the 8th October 1970 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
His father, Kent, worked in real estate and finance, while his mother, Nancy, was a professor in Early Childhood Education. His parents divorced when Matt was only a toddler, and he also has a brother named Kyle.
Perhaps the earliest recollection of Matt’s love of film and acting came when he was just ten years old. He became best friends with Ben Affleck who only lived a couple of blocks away from Damon at the time. In their spare time, they enjoyed many activities, one being watching movie double features together. Damon was also able to develop his passion for acting while attending Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. He later studied English at Harvard.
Matt’s rise to stardom
Matt left his university course before graduating to pursue his dreams of becoming an actor.
A turning point for Matt Damon was in 1990 where he had the chance to appear in the TV movie ‘Rising Son’. His appearance was so successful that he decided to quit his course and pursue his dream of acting. This was despite him only having 12 credits left to complete before graduating.
Besides his acting career, he also had an opportunity to write a script which led to the release of ‘Goodwill Hunting’ in 1997 which he won an Oscar for in the category ‘best original screenplay’. Thanks to the success of this movie, Matt’s career really took off.
From a college dropout to a mega star
The beginning of Matt Damon’s career goes right back to 1988 when he had his first big-screen debut in the film ‘Mystic Pizza’ at the tender age of just 18 years old. It was four years after this when he then starred in ‘School Ties’ and ‘Geronimo: An American Legend’ in 1992 and 1993.
Another three years after these appearances, Matt made various other appearances in film across four consecutive years. Perhaps the most notable was the 1996 epic, ‘Courage Under Fire’ where he starred as a young soldier forced to testify after battle during the Persian Gulf War. Other great films he starred in during this period included ‘Rainmaker’ for which he won an Academy Award for Original Screenplay alongside Affleck. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in 1998 and the 1999 classic ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ were other big blockbuster hits that Matt had the opportunity to star in.
Career highs
Matt Damon has had many career highs, including being part of the incredible Bourne series.
The decade 2000 to 2010 proved to be an exciting period for Matt. Mainly down to the success of The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) of which received the biggest opening weekend ever during August in movie history. Other films of note that Damon starred in during this time include The Departed (2006) and the drama ‘True Grit’ back in 2010. However, Matt Damon’s most prominent success during this time was undoubtedly ‘Invictus’ in 2009. Playing the rugby great ‘Francois Pienaar’, he won his third academy award in his career.
Once more, 2011 to 2019 greeted Matt with even more opportunities to further his already established acting career. Interestingly, Damon was able to bag a role virtually every year in this period except 2018. Starting in 2011, he played the key part of a politician in the gripping sci-fi drama ‘The Adjustment Bureau’. A somewhat huge contrast to his role in the family-friendly film ‘We Bought a Zoo’.
Matt Damon had some particularly impressive feats from 2012 to 2019. He started this period starring in ‘Promised Land’. This was followed by the 2013 film ‘Behind the Candelabra’. For his performance, he received rave reviews, an Emmy, Golden Globe and two awards for ‘Leading Actor’. 2015 was another tremendous success after the release of ‘The Martian’ which as well as earning $600 million worldwide, also gained two Golden Globes for Damon.
Matt’s personal life is also a roaring success
Matt and his beautiful girlfriend Luciana Bozan Barroso at the Oceans 13 movie premier.
Aside from his impressive movie career, he is married to his long-time girlfriend Luciana Bozan Barroso with whom he has three daughters. He also has a step-daughter from Luciana’s previous marriage.
In 2007, he was named ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ by People Magazine. However, the media attention doesn’t stop here for Matt. In January 2008, he starred in a funny music video with the comedian Sarah Silverman which received much success after being posted online. This prompted the pair to produce even more funny videos.
An expert gambler
Matt has often been spotted on the tables in the casino, even playing in games to raise big bucks for charity.
Matt Damon is also known to have a lot of experience playing Blackjack. As one of his favorite casino games, one notable moment was when he had the chance to play with Chippy, the aunt of Jimmy Kimmel, in Las Vegas. In her first hand, she lost to Damon, which was unfortunate, as the $10,000 that was up for grabs was intended for the studio audience. Responding to this, Damon put up $10,000 of his own money and eventually the pair were able to win up to $40,000 which was soon lost thanks to the poor advice of Damon. This resulted in a backlash by Kimmel who as well as describing Matt as ‘The Bourne Loser’ actively discouraged people from watching the upcoming Jason Bourne movie.
While Matt Damon may have the cash and knowledge to go big when playing blackjack, many of us don’t. But, help is on hand, the best place to begin is through following the advice of an expert, and to support you, revered gambling author Henry Tamburin Ph.D. has created a comprehensive guide on how to play blackjack, so you can get off to the best possible start.
Our parting words on Matt Damon’s career
With fairly average roots beginning in your typical American city, along with an upbringing not exactly out of the ordinary, Matt Damon has come a long way from an 80s college dropout. He is now considered one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, winning multiple Golden Globes and Academy Awards as well.
Perhaps the reason Damon has had such a glowing acting career is due to his early meetings with Ben Affleck and the countless opportunities he had to hone his acting skills during High School.
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