Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Damon began his acting career by appearing in

high school theater productions. He made his professional acting debut in the film Mystic
Pizza (1988). He came to prominence in 1997, when he wrote and starred in Good Will
Hunting, alongside Ben Affleck, which won them the Academy and Golden Globe awards for
Best Screenplay and earned Damon a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He
continued to garner praise from critics for his roles as the eponymous character in Saving Private
Ryan (1998), the antihero in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a fallen angel in Dogma (1999)
and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), an energy analyst in Syriana (2005), and a corrupt Irish-
American police officer in The Departed (2006). In 2019 he starred as race car driver and
designer Carroll Shelby in James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari.
Damon is also known for his starring roles as Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002–2016)
and as a con man in the Ocean's trilogy (2001–2007). For his supporting role as the rugby
player Francois Pienaar in Invictus (2009) and his leading role as an astronaut stranded
on Mars in The Martian (2015), Damon received Academy Award nominations for Best
Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively. The latter also won him a Golden Globe Award for
Best Actor. Damon has received Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of Scott Thorson in
the biopic Behind the Candelabra (2013) and for producing the reality series Project Greenlight.
He also received an Academy Award nomination for producing Manchester by the Sea (2016).