Matt Damon used to share a bank account with his pal Ben Affleck to save cash for auditions.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck used to share a bank account
The pair had been friends since the age of eight after meeting at school and they teamed up as they attempted to break into the acting industry together and Damon has revealed the even pooled their finances to make sure they had enough money to support themselves as they tried out for parts.
Speaking during an appearance on ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’, Matt explained: “It was unusual [to share a bank account], but we needed the money for auditions … [it was] a weird thing in retrospect …
“As long as one of us had money, we knew that the power wasn’t going to get shut off.”
Damon landed a small part in 1993 movie ‘Geronimo: An American Legend’ and revealed the money he made kept their audition fund going for quite some time.
He went on: “I remember after doing ‘Geronimo’, I was like, f***, I probably had like 35 grand in the bank. I was like [to Affleck], ‘We’re good! We’re good for a year!'”
Damon also explained they had rules about taking money out of the account – revealing they could take small amounts out for change to play video games and later they used it as beer money.
He went on: “You were allowed to take out $10 and get quarters and go to [the arcade] and play video games. Eventually we were allowed to try to buy beer, which never f****** worked.”
Affleck then added: “”I think that attitude really helped us in ways we couldn’t anticipate. Matt and I always felt like we’re in it together. Like, ‘Hey, I want to get the part, but I want you to get the part [too]’.”
The pair did eventually get their big break when the screenplay they wrote for ‘Good Will Hunting’ – a film about a young mathematics genius was picked up.
The 1997 film landed nine Academy Awards nominations, including Best Actor for Damon. They ended up sharing the Oscar for Best Screenplay and their co-star Robin Williams picked up the Best Supporting Actor prize.
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