Matt Damon on Growing Up With His Film-Obsessed Best Friend Ben Affleck and Why He's Glad His Wife's Not Famou

Matt Damon is getting candid about how growing up with his best friend, Ben Affleck, helped the pair find success in Hollywood.

The hunky duo rose to prominence after writing and co-starring in 1997’s Good Will Hunting, but their friendship was born way back when Damon was just 10, leading them to influence each other during some of the most significant years of their childhood.

“I’ve known him for 35 years, and we grew up together,” said the star ofJason Bourne, which hits theaters on July 29. “We were both in love with the same thing – acting and filmmaking. I think we fed on each other’s obsession during really formative, important years and that bonded us for life.”

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Damon, 45, went on to gush about his buddy’s talents as a director and said he would happily take a role in Affleck’s next directorial gig, a standalone Batman film, if he didn’t keep all the best roles for himself!

“I choose all my jobs based on directors,” Damon said. “So anything he’d want me to be in, I’d be in. He’s a brilliant director, but the problem is that he always gives the best parts to himself. So until he starts including the rest of us, I think we just have to go watch him be great in his movies.”

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While his BFF may be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Damon added that he’s glad his wife of 10 years, Luciana Barroso, is more under the radar.

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The couple have three daughters together, as well as Luciana’s daughter from a previous relationship. Damon believes that not being married to a celebrity has helped him live somewhat of a normal life in Hollywood.

“I think it helped that she was [what] we would call a civilian. She’s not in the business and there’s not that whole curiosity about her,” he explained. “They let us be a normal family. I feel lucky that I get to do the work that I want to do and at the same time, I get to have a relatively normal life.”

That normal life includes normal past-times, his favorite being having friends over for pasta. It’s a meal that Damon struggled to give up while preparing to reprise his role of Jason Bourne in the latest Bourne film.

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While getting in shape for the movie, his diet mainly consisted of vegetables and protein.

“[It was] brutal. I like to eat! My favorite thing is a big bowl of pasta, a glass of red wine and my friends around. So it was [tough], but at the end of the day it was worth it,” Damon said.

See Damon dish on the best way to win a movie fight in the video below.

Matt Damon on How to Win a Movie Fight: 'It's Much More Like a Dance'

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