How Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, 2 Kids Who Achieved Their Dreams Together, Grew to Be Lifelong Friends

67% of people have a friend they have known since childhood. True friendships are not affected by time apart — if you have someone you haven’t seen in ages, and when you meet again, nothing seems to have changed, you know you got a buddy for life. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are in the 67%, and while they’re now in their 50s, their friendship is stronger than ever. Let’s find out together how their bromance has developed over the years.

Affleck and Damon have known each for almost their whole lives.

The 2 became friends when Affleck was 8 and Damon was 10, and they also went to the same high school. Affleck would act in a little TV show, and he felt like no one understood it, “All of a sudden I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it was interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it.” Sharing a true passion for acting and baseball, the drama-geek kids auditioned together for their first movie, School Ties, in 1992.

In the movie that brought them world recognition, the 2 played the same roles as IRL — that of best friends.

Ben and Matt left school and moved in together to try to turn their passion into a profession. A few years later, in 1996, as young adults they wrote Good Will Hunting, the movie that gave them an Oscar for best screenplay and kept them on the map indefinitely. To this day, Ben Affleck is the youngest writer to get such an award. Moreover, with a budget of $10 million, the movie grossed $225 million.

When everyone judged Affleck, Damon was a constant support.

In 2018, a photo of Ben Affleck and his back tattoo, a phoenix rising from the ashes, made headlines online. Internet users and celebrities mocked his tattoo. His ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, shared, “You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart.’”

Jennifer Lopez, his ex-girlfriend and current wife, wasn’t a fan of the tattoo either, stating, “It’s awful! What are you doing? It has too many colors. His tattoos always had too many colors. They shouldn’t be so colorful. They should be cooler.”

Damon stood by his friend even when the world didn’t. When asked why he didn’t stop his friend from getting the ridiculed tattoo, his answer was supportive, “It’s not one man’s job to tell another man what he can do to his back. I support him in all of his artistic expression. Because some friends take this generous approach to friendship and say, ’I love you just the way you are, even now, with your large back mural.’”

Through thick and thin, Affleck and Damon were always there for each other.

Although their road to worldwide recognition wasn’t without struggle, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been there for each other the whole time. The 2 owe their success to each other, Damon shared, “We were really, really young, and I think we fed on each other’s enthusiasm. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t met Ben.”

Their bromance is exemplary — so much so that it was officially confirmed when the 2 got the Guys of the Decade award in 2016. In their acceptance speech, Ben shared, “I think it goes without saying that this is an award Matt and I have been dreaming about since we were little boys.”

Who’s that friend that has always stood by you, no matter what? What do you think the secret is to a lifelong friendship? Let us know in the comments.