Why Ben Affleck considers ‘The Good Shepherd’ amongst his favourite Matt Damon performances: “One of the most exquisite I’ve ever seen”
One of Hollywood’s greatest platonic love stories, the unbreakable bond between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon has brought them from the streets of Boston to the summit of Hollywood, which they refused to do without the other.
The pair’s trials and tribulations in getting Good Will Hunting made have become the stuff of industry legend, with the aspiring actors and budding filmmakers living together, sharing a bank account, and facing constant rejection before Kevin Smith became their unlikely guardian angel who finally helped their dream become a reality.
When Gus Van Sant’s drama took off at the box office and became a critical, commercial, and awards season favourite, with Affleck still the youngest-ever winner of the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ at the age of 25, the duo capitalised on their newfound momentum to become major players.
They haven’t made a massive amount of movies together since, although that seems to be changing with The Last Duel, Air, and Rip reuniting them onscreen three times in quick succession, but they’ve been constant sounding boards for each other’s work. Trying to pick out the finest work of your best friend’s career seems like a tall order, especially when they’re sitting right next to you at the time, but Affleck nonetheless singled out two Damon performances as the cream of the crop.
“I’ve always felt it was one of the most exquisite performances I’ve ever seen an actor turn in,” the former told The Hindu of the latter’s turn in Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd. “You have to be keenly watching to observe the internal life that’s present in his portrayal. I’ve known Matt my whole life, and I know everything about him, more or less. But onscreen. I was witnessing a person I didn’t know at all; I believed in it 100%.”
From Affleck’s perspective, Damon is at his best when he can’t even recognise the guy playing the role, which makes sense when they’ve evolved into a Bostonian hive mind that can spot each other’s performative tricks, tics, and techniques from a mile away. There was a second film that ticked those same boxes, and it was Tom McCarthy’s crime drama Stillwater.
“His transformation into that role was so subtle, yet three-dimensionally realised,” Affleck celebrated. “It was a letter-perfect encapsulation and interpretation of a person that came across as completely real to us watching. To the point that I would recognise that character if I met him in real life, but the Matt I know is so different from that.”
Although both The Good Shepherd and Stillwater were well-received films, neither of them launched Damon into the thick of the awards conversation. However, based on their history, being named the two best performances of his career by Affleck probably means more than any trophy ever could.
