Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Reveal Bromantic Reason They Got Into Business Together: 'How Much Life Do We Have Left?'

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are pinpointing the sweet reason they decided to get into business together.

The longtime friends, who grew up together in Boston, won Oscar gold for writing the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, in which they also starred, before launching major Hollywood careers on their own.

In November 2022, they announced they were forming a production company together called Artists Equity, which has since produced movies like Air, The Instigators, Small Things Like These and Unstoppable.

Speaking to Deadline, Damon, 54, and Affleck, 52, shared what inspired their decision, which sparked while they were both acting in the Ridley Scott film The Last Duel, which came out in 2021.

"We had this experience on The Last Duel. Ben and I hadn’t written together in so long, and I watched that Peter Jackson Beatles documentary, the one that ends with that performance on the roof," recalled Damon.

"These guys are playing, and it’s The Beatles, and they’re live and you can see the joy that they’re playing with. They’re so excited, and then Peter Jackson puts a chyron up that says, this is the last live performance that the Beatles ever gave."

Damon said he watched The Beatles: Get Back documentary with his youngest daughter Stella when he got emotional thinking about his own legacy.

"... She turned and looked at me. She said, ‘Dad, why are you crying?’ I had tears running down my face because of the missed opportunity that these four incredible musicians who clearly loved each other never got," he said. "That was the impetus behind putting this company together."

Damon said, "I was like, what are we doing, man? Both of us, this is what we love to do more than anything. The only thing better is doing it together, in any capacity, whether he’s directing or whether we’re acting together or whether we’re producing together, or whether we’re just facilitating for other filmmakers."

"How much life do we have left and what are we going to do with it?" he added.

Damon is chief content officer of the Los Angeles–based company, while Affleck works as CEO and Damon's wife Luciana plays a key role. One of their next projects is a movie with Netflix titled RIP, in which Damon and Affleck star as undercover cops. (They're growing out their beards together for the roles.)

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In the same Deadline interview, Affleck explained that he and Damon wanted to spend more time working together.

"... Really at the root of this company was Matt and my realization that your life is defined so much by the people that you spend time with every day," he said. "On The Last Duel, we agreed we ought to do more stuff together. Life is just a lot more fun and rewarding when we’re spending time together, and working together."

"If we can choose who we want to be around, let’s make that a really rewarding part of our lives. And that was as much a guiding principle of this, going forward," he continued. "Who do we want to be partners and making movies just in terms of who do we want to spend time with, who do we want to be partners with? What do we want?"

Damon previously told Entertainment Tonight of his long-lasting friendship and partnership with Affleck, "I’ve known him for 35 years, and we grew up together. 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," he added, "and that bonded us for life."