Matt Damon filmography

Headshot of Damon looking down from the camera
Damon at the French premiere for The Monuments Men in 2014

American actor Matt Damon made his film debut with a small role in Mystic Pizza (1988),[1] after which he played several supporting roles. His first leading role was in the legal drama film The Rainmaker (1997).[2] His breakthrough came later that year when he played the title role of an unrecognized genius in Good Will Hunting, which he also co-wrote with Ben Affleck.[3] They won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Damon was nominated for Best Actor.[3][4] He followed it by playing the title roles of a soldier in Steven Spielberg's war drama Saving Private Ryan (1998) and of the criminal Tom Ripley in the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), both of which gained critical and commercial success.[5] Damon and Sean Bailey worked on the television series Project Greenlight since 2000, helping newcomers make their first film.[6][7][8]

Damon's profile continued to expand in the 2000s, as he took on starring roles in two lucrative film franchises.[9] He played a con man in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and played the titular spy Jason Bourne in four films of the Bourne series (2002–2016).[10][11] Damon played an energy analyst in the thriller film Syriana (2005) and starred in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed crime film The Departed (2006).[12][13] He played the rugby player Francois Pienaar in the sports film Invictus (2009), gaining a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[14][15] Damon continued to gain praise for his collaborations with Soderbergh on the crime film The Informant! (2009) and the drama Behind the Candelabra (2013).[16][17] His portrayal of Scott Thorson in the latter earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.[18][19][20]

Damon's biggest commercial successes in the 2010s came with the western True Grit (2010), and the science fiction films Elysium (2013) and The Martian (2015).[21] In the latter, which earned over $630 million to become his highest-grossing release, he played a botanist stranded on Mars, for which he received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Interstellar (2014) earned over $670 million, with Damon in a minor role.[22] Following a series of poorly received films, Damon had a success in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019), in which he portrayed Carroll Shelby. He co-wrote, produced, and starred as Jean de Carrouges in the period drama The Last Duel (2021), which despite positive reviews was not financially profitable.[23] In 2023, Damon portrayed Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in Affleck's acclaimed sports drama Air,[24] as well as Leslie Groves in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

  1. ^ McKee, Ryan (March 4, 2011). "Before They Were Famous: Matt Damon in 'Mystic Pizza'". MTV. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  2. ^ Kamp, David (December 1997). "Meet Matt Damon". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Nanos, Janelle (January 2013). "Good Will Hunting: An Oral History". Boston. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  4. ^ "The 70th Academy Awards (1998) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  5. ^ Giles, Jeff (August 8, 2013). "Matt Damon's Best Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  6. ^ Fleming, Michael (January 30, 2008). "LivePlanet film unit takes final bow". Daily Variety. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  7. ^ Ng, Philiana (April 30, 2014). "HBO Reviving 'Project Greenlight' With Ben Affleck, Matt Damon". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  8. ^ "$1m contest for Hollywood big break". BBC. February 28, 2001. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  9. ^ Goldman, Steven (August 10, 2007). "Top gun". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  10. ^ Barlow, Aaron (August 11, 2014). Star Power: The Impact of Branded Celebrity [2 volumes]: The Impact of Branded Celebrity. ABC-CLIO. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-313-39618-2. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Mendelson, Scott (April 21, 2016). "'Jason Bourne' Trailer: Matt Damon Returns To Reclaim His Franchise". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  12. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (March 3, 2006). "Syriana". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  13. ^ Schneider, Steven Jay (November 5, 2011). 1001: Movies You Must See Before You Die: You Must See Before You Die 2011. Lagardère Publishing. p. 2667. ISBN 978-1-84403-718-6. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017.
  14. ^ von Tunzelmann, Alex (October 3, 2013). "Invictus: better on Nelson Mandela than rugby". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  15. ^ "The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "The Informant! (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  17. ^ "Behind the Candelabra (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 16, 2009). "The Informant!". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  19. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (May 24, 2013). "Review: Michael Douglas and Matt Damon dazzle in HBO's 'Behind the Candelabra'". HitFix. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  20. ^ Child, Ben (September 23, 2013). "Michael Douglas wins best actor Emmy for Behind the Candelabra". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. ^ "Matt Damon". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  22. ^ "Interstellar (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  23. ^ "Ben Affleck on Why 'The Last Duel' Bombed and What He Thinks of Ridley Scott Blaming Millennials". The Hollywood Reporter. December 15, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  24. ^ Willis, Kim (March 19, 2023). "Ben Affleck's Michael Jordan biopic 'Air' gets raves at SXSW: 'Best movie of the year'". USA Today. Retrieved March 24, 2023.