American actor Matt Damon made his film debut with a small role in Mystic Pizza (1988), [1] after which he played several supporting roles. His first leading role was in the legal drama film The Rainmaker (1997). [2] His breakthrough came later that year when he played the title role of an unrecognized genius in Good Will Hunting , which he also co-wrote with Ben Affleck. [3] They won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Damon was nominated for Best Actor. [3] [4] He followed it by playing the title roles of a soldier in Steven Spielberg's war drama Saving Private Ryan (1998) and of the criminal Tom Ripley in the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), both of which gained critical and commercial success. [5] Damon and Sean Bailey worked on the television series Project Greenlight since 2000, helping newcomers make their first film. [6] [7] [8]
Damon's profile continued to expand in the 2000s, as he took on starring roles in two lucrative film franchises. [9] He played a con man in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and played the titular spy Jason Bourne in four films of the Bourne series (2002–2016). [10] [11] Damon played an energy analyst in the thriller film Syriana (2005) and starred in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed crime film The Departed (2006). [12] [13] He played the rugby player Francois Pienaar in the sports film Invictus (2009), gaining a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. [14] [15] Damon continued to gain praise for his collaborations with Soderbergh on the crime film The Informant! (2009) and the drama Behind the Candelabra (2013). [16] [17] His portrayal of Scott Thorson in the latter earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. [18] [19] [20]
Damon's biggest commercial successes in the 2010s came with the western True Grit (2010), and the science fiction films Elysium (2013) and The Martian (2015). [21] In the latter, which earned over $630 million to become his highest-grossing release, he played a botanist stranded on Mars, for which he received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Interstellar (2014) earned over $670 million, with Damon in a minor role. [22] Following a series of poorly received films, Damon had a success in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019), in which he portrayed Carroll Shelby. He co-wrote, produced, and starred as Jean de Carrouges in the period drama The Last Duel (2021), which despite positive reviews was not financially profitable. [23] In 2023, Damon portrayed Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in Affleck's acclaimed sports drama Air , [24] as well as Leslie Groves in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer .
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Mystic Pizza | Steamer Windsor | [25] | |
The Good Mother | Extra | [26] | ||
1989 | Field of Dreams | Extra | Uncredited | [27] |
1992 | School Ties | Charlie Dillon | [28] | |
1993 | Geronimo: An American Legend | Lt. Britton Davis | [29] | |
1995 | Glory Daze | Edgar Pudwhacker | [30] | |
1996 | Courage Under Fire | Specialist Ilario | [31] | |
1997 | Chasing Amy | Shawn Oran | [32] | |
The Rainmaker | Rudy Baylor | [33] | ||
Good Will Hunting | Will Hunting | Also screenwriter | [34] | |
1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Private James Francis Ryan | [35] | |
Rounders | Mike McDermott | [36] | ||
1999 | Dogma | Loki | [37] | |
The Talented Mr. Ripley | Tom Ripley | [38] | ||
2000 | Titan A.E. | Cale | Voice role | [39] |
The Legend of Bagger Vance | Rannulph Junuh | [40] | ||
Finding Forrester | Steven Sanderson | Cameo | [41] | |
All the Pretty Horses | John Grady Cole | [42] | ||
2001 | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back | Himself | Cameo | [43] |
Ocean's Eleven | Linus Caldwell | [44] | ||
The Majestic | Luke Trimble | Voice role | [45] | |
2002 | Gerry | Gerry | Also screenwriter and editor | [46] [47] |
Stolen Summer | — | Producer | [48] | |
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron | Spirit | Voice role | [49] | |
The Third Wheel | Kevin | Cameo; also executive producer | [50] | |
The Bourne Identity | Jason Bourne | [51] | ||
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | Bachelor Matt | Cameo | [52] | |
Speakeasy | — | Executive producer | [53] | |
2003 | The Battle of Shaker Heights | — | Executive producer | [54] |
Stuck on You | Bob Tenor | [55] | ||
2004 | EuroTrip | Donny | Cameo | [56] |
Jersey Girl | PR Exec #2 | Cameo | [57] | |
The Bourne Supremacy | Jason Bourne | [51] | ||
Ocean's Twelve | Linus Caldwell | [58] | ||
Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train | Narrator | Documentary | [59] | |
2005 | Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D | Alan Shepard | Documentary | [60] [61] |
The Brothers Grimm | Wilhelm Grimm | [62] | ||
Syriana | Bryan Woodman | [63] | ||
Feast | — | Executive producer | [64] | |
2006 | The Departed | Sergeant Colin Sullivan | [65] | |
The Good Shepherd | Edward Wilson | [66] | ||
2007 | Ocean's Thirteen | Linus Caldwell | [67] | |
The Bourne Ultimatum | Jason Bourne | [51] | ||
Youth Without Youth | Ted Jones | Uncredited | [68] | |
Running the Sahara | Narrator | Documentary; also executive producer | [69] | |
2008 | Che: Part Two | Father Schwarz | [70] | |
Ponyo | Kōichi | Voice role | [71] | |
2009 | The Informant! | Mark Whitacre | [18] | |
Invictus | Francois Pienaar | [14] | ||
2010 | Green Zone | Roy Miller | [72] | |
Hereafter | George Lonegan | [73] | ||
True Grit | LaBoeuf | [74] | ||
Inside Job | Narrator | Documentary | [75] | |
2011 | The Adjustment Bureau | David Norris | [76] | |
Contagion | Mitch Emhoff | [77] | ||
Margaret | Mr. Aaron | [78] | ||
Happy Feet Two | Bill the Krill | Voice role | [79] | |
We Bought a Zoo | Benjamin Mee | [80] | ||
2012 | Promised Land | Steve Butler | Also screenwriter and producer | [81] |
2013 | Behind the Candelabra [a] | Scott Thorson | [19] | |
Elysium | Max Da Costa | [83] | ||
The Zero Theorem | Management | [84] | ||
2014 | The Monuments Men | James Granger | [85] | |
The Man Who Saved the World | Himself | Documentary | [86] | |
Interstellar | Dr. Mann | [87] | ||
2015 | The Martian | Mark Watney | [88] | |
2016 | Manchester by the Sea | — | Producer | [89] |
Jason Bourne | Jason Bourne | Also producer | [11] | |
The Great Wall | William Garin | [90] | ||
2017 | Bending the Arc | — | Documentary; executive producer | [91] |
Downsizing | Paul Safranek | [92] | ||
Suburbicon | Gardner Lodge | [93] | ||
Thor: Ragnarok | Loki Actor | Uncredited cameo | [94] | |
2018 | Unsane | Detective Ferguson | Cameo | [95] |
Deadpool 2 | Redneck #1 | Cameo; credited as "Dickie Greenleaf" | [96] | |
Ocean's 8 | Linus Caldwell | Cameo in deleted scene | [97] | |
2019 | Ford v Ferrari | Carroll Shelby | [98] | |
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot | Loki | Cameo | [99] | |
2021 | No Sudden Move | Mike Lowen/Mr. Big | Uncredited cameo | [100] |
Stillwater | Bill Baker | [101] | ||
The Last Duel | Jean de Carrouges | Also screenwriter and producer | [102] | |
2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder | Loki Actor | Cameo | [103] |
2023 | Air | Sonny Vaccaro | Also producer | [104] |
Oppenheimer | Leslie Groves | [105] | ||
2024 | Drive-Away Dolls | Senator Gary Channel | [106] | |
IF | Sunny | Voice role | [107] | |
Small Things like These | — | Producer | [108] | |
The Instigators | Rory | Also producer | [109] | |
Unstoppable | — | Executive producer | [110] | |
2025 | Kiss of the Spider Woman | — | Executive producer | [111] |
The Accountant 2 † | — | Post-production; executive producer | [112] | |
RIP† | TBA | Post-production; also producer | [113] | |
2026 | The Odyssey † | Odysseus | Filming | [114] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Rising Son | Charlie Robinson | Television film | [115] |
1995 | The Good Old Boys | Cotton Calloway | Television film | [116] |
2001–2005, 2015 | Project Greenlight | Himself | Executive producer | [7] [117] |
2002 | Push, Nevada | — | Executive producer | [118] |
2002 | The Bernie Mac Show | Himself | Episode: "Keep It on the Short Grass" | [119] |
2002 | Will & Grace | Owen | Episode: "A Chorus Lie" | [120] |
2002, 2018 | Saturday Night Live | Himself / host, Brett Kavanaugh | 3 episodes | [121] [122] |
2003–2014 | Journey to Planet Earth | Narrator | Documentary; 9 episodes | [123] |
2006–present | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Himself | Talk show; 26 episodes | [124] |
2007 | Arthur | Himself (voice) | Episode: "The Making of Arthur/Dancing Fools" | [125] |
2009 | Entourage | Himself | Episode: "Give a Little Bit" | [126] |
2009 | The People Speak | Narrator | Documentary; executive producer | [127] [128] |
2010 | Cubed | Himself | Episode: "Welcome Matt Damon" | [129] |
2010–2011 | 30 Rock | Carol Burnett | 4 episodes | [121] |
2013 | House of Lies | Himself | Episode: "Damonschildren.org" | [130] |
2014 | Years of Living Dangerously | Himself | Documentary; episode: "A Dangerous Future" | [131] |
2015 | The Leisure Class | — | Television movie; executive producer | [132] |
2016 | The Runner | — | Executive producer | [133] |
2016 | Incorporated | — | Executive producer | [134] |
2019–2022 | City on a Hill | — | Executive producer | [135] |
2024 | We Were the Lucky Ones | — | Executive producer | [136] |