"Success is not something I've wrapped my brain around. If people go to those movies, then yes, that's true, big-time success. If not, it's much ado about nothing." ~ Matt Damon
Much ado about something, actor and screenwriter Matthew Paige Damon (1970-) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and at age 10 met friend and writing partner Ben Affleck.
"We're a lot like the Wonder Twins," Damon said of the friendship.
The handsome, cherub-faced star appeared in commercials, and then dropped out of Harvard for Hollywood. He made his film debut with a bit part in Mystic Pizza (w/Julia Roberts, 1988), then hit the big time in 1997, starring in both The Rainmaker (w/Francis Ford Coppola) and Good Will Hunting (w/Robin Williams).
The Oscar-winning screenplay started out as a one-act play, written by Damon at Harvard. With Affleck's help, the project evolved into a powerful and eloquent script. "We took an idea from its very beginning and shepherded it all the way through until it was a film," Damon said.
In 2002, Damon played the action hero/assassin in The Bourne Identity with passion, doing a lot of his stunts and spending hours learning how to shoot a gun as "an extension of his arm." His hard work paid off as the film scored big at the box office. In 2007, Damon was named People magazine's 27th "Sexiest Man Alive."
With fame, the busy actor has tried to maintain perspective, reflecting humorously, "I'm knocking on wood so hard my knuckles are bleeding. I just never know if I'm going to pull it off. I have terrible, grave concerns about my own ability."
The actor has become an advocate to stop wildlife extinction. "Something is terribly wrong with our environment," he said, with the hope of raising global awareness.
