Matt Damon reveals Ben Affleck's emotional reaction to 'The Odyssey' after 45 years of friendship

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matt Damon reflected on his decades-long friendship with Ben Affleck while joining his 'The Odyssey' co-star Zendaya for a playful appearance on MTV Movies to promote Christopher Nolan's upcoming film.

Damon recalled Affleck's heartfelt reaction after watching the film, describing a phone call he had been waiting 45 years to receive. The moment also highlighted the enduring bond between the childhood friends, whose relationship has spanned more than four decades.

Matt Damon recalls Ben Affleck's emotional response after watching 'The Odyssey'

During the MTV Movies game "Who Even Am I?," Damon was tasked with identifying celebrities from clues without seeing their photos. As he tried to guess Affleck, he asked, "Let's see. So, I've shared the screen with this person in this movie. No. Oh, boy. Uh, to be fair, this would be a very obvious one, though."

He then asked, "Okay. Did I grow up with them? Is it Ben Affleck?" After being told he was correct, Damon joked, "It could have been Casey." Looking at Affleck's photo afterward, he praised his longtime friend, saying, "Look at that dashing picture of him. He's really giving blue steel in that one. Uh yeah, 45-year friendship and uh we've been through a whole hell of a lot together."

He then stated, "And uh he's he's uh you know, one of the great loves of my life, I will say about Ben."

The producer then asked how Affleck reacted after watching 'The Odyssey.' Damon revealed that the actor called him immediately afterward, "I got a phone call from him that I think I've been waiting 45 years to get."

He continued, "He didn't stop talking for an hour. It was like he'd seen the movie 20 times. He got absolutely everything, every detail. He just somehow soaked it all in in one viewing." Damon added that his wife and daughter Isabella also had memorable reactions to the film.

He shared that Isabella, whom he described as one of his toughest critics, told him, "Dad, I'm proud of you." When the conversation turned to parenting, Zendaya and Damon agreed that "kids will do it to you," with her responding, "Oh, they will. Every time."

Matt Damon reflects on his decades-long friendship with Ben Affleck

Damon and Affleck first met in 1980 as children growing up just down the block from each other in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when they were 10 and 8 years old, respectively. Their friendship grew from playing baseball and pursuing acting to sharing a bank account while attending auditions together.

They later co-wrote the Oscar-winning 'Good Will Hunting' and went on to co-found their production company, Artists Equity. At the New York City premiere of their new movie, 'The Rip,' earlier this month, Damon spoke about how their friendship has evolved over more than four decades.

"Well the circumstances of our lives have changed a lot and obviously we've gone through different phases of life, having kids, so those things are vastly different but I feel like who we are as people was kind of established together a long time ago in our adolescence and teens and those things have been pretty consistent," Damon said.

Affleck also reflected on their creative partnership during a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair. He recalled that in the late 2000s and early 2010s, they believed working together too often might hurt their careers.

"At some point, we got convinced of this idea, like, 'Well, you don't wanna work together all the time, you'll become sort of associated with each other.' And that's negative," Affleck said, adding, "But ultimately, it was sort of like, I don't know, let's work together.' Cause that's the beautiful, that's the fun."