Trivia

Turned down the role of Harvey Dent in Batman: El caballero de la noche (2008).

Dropped out of Harvard 12 credits short of graduating to pursue his acting career.

Is the real-life best friend of Ben Affleck. Each has starred together or had cameos in each of the other's films.

Learned to play piano for the film El impostor (1999).

When he and best friend Ben Affleck were struggling actors, they both shared a Boston bank account.

Both he and Ben Affleck worked as extras on the film El campo de los sueños (1989). At one point during the shoot, Matt took some blades of grass from the field as mementos for his father.

He and Ben Affleck lived two blocks away from each other in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when they were children.

Met his wife, Luciana Damon, in Florida, while he was filming Pegado a ti (2003) and she was working as a bartender.

Started a bowling league in Berlin while making La supremacía Bourne (2004).

To perfect his Southern accent for his role as Rudy Baylor in El poder de la justicia (1997), he tended bar in Knoxville, TN, for free. Later he hired one of the customers to serve as his dialect coach.

Stated that his appearance on The Graham Norton Show (2007) with Hugh Bonneville and Bill Murray was 'the best time he'd ever had on a chat show'.

Dropped 47 pounds for his role as a Gulf War vet in Valor bajo fuego (1996).

Quit smoking after visiting a hypnotist in L.A.

Jimmy Kimmel had a long running gag of ending his late night show with an apology to Matt Damon for not being able to interview him.

His parents divorced when he was two and he spent part of his childhood in a commune in Boston with his mother.

Was considered for the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Daredevil: El hombre sin miedo (2003). The role eventually went to his best friend Ben Affleck.

He is close friends with Chris Hemsworth.

While promoting La supremacía Bourne (2004) on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), he revealed that when he was a college freshman his agent from a "ma and pa agency" inadvertently sent him and Ben Affleck to an audition for The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). They were under the impression that they were going to meet the head of Touchstone Pictures.

Became a father for the 3rd time at age 40 when his wife Luciana Damon gave birth to their daughter Stella Zavala Damon on October 20, 2010.

Has stated since The Bourne Identity, when rehearsing fight scenes with stunt men, he has bought each of them a bottle of champagne for every time he struck them by accident.

Named Hollywood's "best value" by Forbes Magazine, with his films making $29 (US) for each dollar he is paid (2007).

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (26 July 2007).

Has an older brother named Kyle, who is a sculptor.

Grew up next door to radical historian Howard Zinn. Damon references Zinn's seminal work "A People's History of the United States" as Will in Mente indomable (1997).

The character Skylar in Mente indomable (1997), played by Minnie Driver, was inspired by Skylar Satenstein, who he used to date in College.

Had never made a sequel until he made La nueva gran estafa (2004) and La supremacía Bourne (2004), both in the same year. In 2007, the third parts of those series, Ahora son 13 (2007) and Bourne: El ultimátum (2007), opened, making the first trilogies he's starred in.

His uncle, George Brunstad, swam the English Channel at the age of 70. He completed the 21-mile swim in 15 hours and 59 minutes, making him the new world record holder as the oldest person to complete the swim. In the process, he raised $12,000 for a Haitian children's group (29 August 2004).

Friends with Casey Affleck, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Wyclef Jean.

He said that in 1995, he was paid $20,000 to be in Tommy Lee Jones film The Good Old Boys (1995). That money kept Damon and Ben Affleck free from having to take other jobs so that they could write Mente indomable (1997).

Shaved his head for the movie Los hermanos Grimm (2005) (to assist in the wearing of a wig for that role). The shaved head was shown in the movie Euroviaje censurado (2004), which was filmed in Prague at the same time.

After a notable weight gain for Pegado a ti (2003), he lost 22 pounds training for La supremacía Bourne (2004), eventually having six-pack abs.

As of 2024, has appeared in seven films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (not counting his unconfirmed bit part in El campo de los sueños (1989)): Mente indomable (1997), Rescatando al soldado Ryan (1998), Los infiltrados (2006) , Temple de acero (2010), Misión Rescate (2015), Contra lo imposible (2019) and Oppenheimer (2023), and produced Best Picture nominee Manchester junto al mar (2016). Los infiltrados (2006) and Oppenheimer (2023) won in the category.

Visited Haiti with Wyclef Jean to deliver food to hurricane victims. (septiembre de 2008)

Tenth cousin once removed of Ben Affleck. They are both descendants of William Knowlton Jr., a bricklayer who came to the United States from England in the 1630s.

1998: Played in $10,000 buy-in Texas Hold 'Em tournament at the World Series of Poker (www.wsop.com) in Las Vegas. He was knocked out in the first day by poker legend Doyle Brunson. Damon had kings, Brunson aces.

Co-founded H20 Africa,an organization that brings clean drinking water to three million people in developing countries.

When his baby nephew cries, he sings "Afternoon Delight" for him.

Has English and Scottish ancestry on his father's side, and Finnish and Swedish ancestry on his mother's side. His maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Pajari" (a Finnish surname) to "Paige".

Turned down the part of Bobby Mercer in Four Brothers (2005), as he found the script to be "ultra-violent". The part eventually went to Mark Wahlberg.

Francis Ford Coppola cast him in El poder de la justicia (1997) after seeing him in Valor bajo fuego (1996).

One of his first movie roles was a one-line part in Mystic Pizza (1988) starring Julia Roberts. Later, he starred with Roberts in La gran estafa (2001).

1998: Formed Pearl Street Productions with Ben Affleck and Chris Moore.

Named "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 2007.

Was, along with Jake Gyllenhaal, the studio's first choice for the role of Jake Sully in Avatar (2009), but director James Cameron chose the (back then) more unknown Sam Worthington in the lead role instead.

Like his best friend Ben Affleck, he was an avid fan and collector of Daredevil comics growing up.

Although his characters have used them frequently in films, he has a strong dislike of guns in real life.

Became a father for the 1st time at age 35 when his wife Luciana Damon gave birth to their daughter Isabella Zavala Damon on June 11, 2006.

Turned down a role in Rápida y mortal (1995). Leonardo DiCaprio was cast instead.

Lost 30 pounds for his role in the film El impostor (1999).

He gained over 30 pounds to play Mark Whiteacre in El desinformante (2009), which he dieted off as soon as the shoot was complete.