Isn’t there something glorious about being single at the same time as your best friend? You can bond over the highs and lows of dating together And, when one of your hearts gets broken a little, you can depend on the other to give you a pep talk and perhaps take you out to dinner and remind you it’ll all be OK as long as you have your BFFL. One of the greatest Hollywood best friends has to be Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but I just learned the timeline of love for the two actors/filmmakers really did not necessarily line up. It turns out Damon met his current wife the same year Affleck broke up with Jennifer Lopez.
As you probably know, both stars are now happily married to their people and are family men when they're not busy with their Hollywood obligations. The Jason Bourne actor has remained married to Luciana Barroso since 2005, whilst the former Batman actor has been the husband to Jennifer Lopez since they tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2022 after a romantic rekindling. So I was definitely surprised to learn just learned that Damon actually met the love of his life the same year that the Argo director and JLo first broke up back in the day, and I really feel for that time in the pair’s friendship.
It was an insider for OK! Magazine that just happened to mention that Matt Damon met Luciana Barroso the same year his old buddy split from his pop star partner. According to Bennifer’s relationship timeline, that would be circa 2004, amidst a high-profile engagement that fell apart between them. I can just imagine Matt Damon trying to support Affleck with the major life shift while also hiding his giddiness about having met his person. That being said, the two actors did actually end up getting married in the same year. Affleck jump the broom with former wife Jennifer Garner in June 2005, before Damon tied the knot to Barroso that same December.
And, of course, the fact that Bennifer did reunite years later after everything that went down is very special. I mean, talk about a full-circle moment. I have to say, it's interesting to learn tidbits like this timeline info.
Air
Directed By: Ben Affleck
Written By: Alex Convery
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker & Viola Davis
Rating: PG-13 for some violent content, drug material and language.
Runtime: 112 minutes
How To Watch: Amazon Prime subscription
There are a lot of other parallels between the best friends who famously wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting together, too. They also each have three children! Matt Damon’s kids with Luciana Barroso are Isabella, 17, Gia, 14, Stella, 12 whilst Ben Affleck’s kids with Garner are Violet Anne, 18, Seraphina Rose, 15, and Samuel, 12. They are super close in age!! Both actors/filmmakers are also stepfathers as well, with Damon being a stepdad to Barroso’s 24-year-old daughter Alexia and Affleck now earning the title for JLo’s 16-year-old twins Max and Emme.
After the two broke out in Hollywood big time for 1997’s GWH, which earned them a Best Original Screenplay Oscar win, they Ben Affleck and Matt Damon didn’t work together for a long time but, recently, they’ve been collaborating a lot more. Last year, Affleck directed Damon in Air, which he was admittedly nervous to do, after the pair also starring in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel together. Damon also recently appeared in a Dunkin Donuts ad, which JLo thought was “so hilarious.”
While the best friends’ love lives didn’t always line up, they both have a lot in common and a lot t be grateful for between their personal and professional lives. Here’s hoping for more collabs between the pair and domestic happiness for both of them.
