Ben Affleck and Matt Damon look adorable in childhood throwback snap as actor leans on BFF amid Jennifer Lopez divorce

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are iconic Hollywood BFFs, their bond dating back to childhood.

Affleck, now 52, ​​and Damon, 53, first crossed paths when they were eight and 10 years old, living near each other in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The future Oscar winners quickly became friends over their love of acting.

After his recent split from Jennifer Lopez, Affleck is leaning on his best friend, who is happily married to Luciana Barroso, with whom he has three daughters.

The unbreakable bond between Affleck and Damon was evident in an adorable photo of the two when they were teenagers.

The two future stars looked angelic as they posed for the camera, with Damon smiling broadly and Affleck grinning as he hugged his best friend.

Damon previously revealed in a 2019 interview that the two became friends after Affleck defended him in a fight with an older child at school.

He said, ‘I remember that was a big moment. He’s going to put himself in a really bad position for me. This is a good friend.’

Their first big screen appearance together was in 1989, when they were two of approximately 3,000 uncredited extras in Kevin Costner’s film Field of Dreams.

Damon told The Los Angeles Times in 1999: ‘Ben has always had an incredible charisma. People only learn about it through film.

It’s hard to think of your best friend as a movie star, but the fact that he is, [stems from] the extent to which parts of his true nature come to the fore.

“He’s someone everyone wants to be around.”

The duo made their breakthrough in 1998 when they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for their film Good Will Hunting, in which they both starred and wrote the screenplay.

Affleck told Boston Magazine that the couple had considered going their separate ways creatively: “We thought for a while about just chilling out and just doing different things, and not being Matt and Ben, Matt and Ben.

“We have our business together, we develop together. And Matt lives in my street, just like he used to. His children live with him, like we used to live with our parents. The only difference is that we have swimming pools.

Other projects they have worked on together include The Last Duel and Air.

In addition to supporting Ben through their breakup, Matt also supported his friend through his battle with alcoholism. The Daredevil star revealed in 2015 that he had turned to drinking during his failed marriage, though he has since sobered up.

Damon told ET in 2016, “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 each other’s obsession during those really formative and important years, and that bonded us for life.”

All summer long, rumors swirled that Affleck and Lopez’s relationship was on the brink of collapse, ultimately resulting in her finally filing papers to dissolve their union on their second wedding anniversary, August 22.

The mother of two filed for annulment of her marriage to Affleck on August 20, which also happened to be the anniversary of their second wedding in Georgia in 2022.

The day after posting her first social media post since filing for divorce, in which she cited her “irreconcilable differences,” the Let’s Get Loud hitmaker remained stoic as she made her first public appearance in weeks.

According to legal documents she filed without a lawyer, their official separation date was in April.

They had been separated for weeks before she filed for divorce, but in the meantime the estranged couple were spotted out together a few times.

Her latest sighting also comes after it was revealed that she is no longer “comfortable” in the Beverly Hills home she once shared with Affleck and their children.

Earlier this month, amid rumors swirling about the state of Affleck and Lopez’s marriage, Damon said he “could never imagine living like” his famous friend.

Matt said it was fortunate that his private life was largely ignored, as his 19-year marriage to Luciana was considered “boring”.

To promote his new film The Instigators, in which he stars alongside Ben’s brother Casey (49), Matt said Radio Time Podcast: ’25 years ago, the tabloid culture was huge, but they ignored me.

‘I wasn’t an exciting story; the man who’s married, that’s boring! Scandal and sex, that’s what people read magazines for. I was really lucky.’

He continued, “Especially when I look at Casey’s brother, Ben. We’ve had parallel careers in a lot of ways, but I can’t imagine living under that scrutiny for 25 years.”

Affleck has been spending a lot of time lately with Kathleen “Kick,” the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., following his recent divorce from Lopez.

The Good Will Hunting actor has been seen with Kick, 36, on several occasions, a source told the site.

According to the insider, the couple has been spending time at the Polo Lounge at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel and other celebrity hotspots.

Although the two have been spotted together, the nature of Ben and Kick’s relationship is currently unknown.