Ben Affleck admits he and Matt Damon squandered $110,000 Good Will Hunting winnings on jeeps and renting a party house during the early Hollywood years
Ben Affleck said he and Matt Damon blew up all the money made from Good Will Hunting and went bankrupt in just six months – in their early days.
The actor, 50, appeared on Friday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show to speak about his latest movie Air and recalled his time rising to fame.
The pair sold the Good Will Hunting script — which won them an Oscar for best original screenplay in 1997 — for $600,000 and blew it all up in six months to buy jeeps and rent a party house in Los Angeles.
said Damon IMDB that they even had to flip a coin to decide who got what color of their lavish jeeps.
The Air director shared some old anecdotes about his and Matt’s early Hollywood days – when they shared a bank account to fund their acting careers.
Spending: Ben Affleck said he and Matt Damon blew up all of Good Will Hunting’s money and went bankrupt in just six months – in their early days
Old time friends: The Air director shared some old anecdotes about his and Matt’s early Hollywood days – when they shared a bank account to fund their acting careers
Ben admitted that once they sold the 1997 film’s screenplay, he felt like he would “never have to work again.”
As two young up and coming actors trying to leave a footprint in the film industry, they were soon confronted with the realities of their finances.
Ben said, “We sold it for $600,000, we split that, $300,000 each, and then the agents got $30,000, so we had $270,000 and we paid about $160,000 in taxes, so we had $110,000 each bought $ 55,000 Jeep Cherokees and then had $55,000 left. ‘
“Of course we decided to rent a $5,000 a month party house on Glencoe Way near the Hollywood Bowl and we were broke within six months.”
During an interview for The Bill Simmons PodcastMatt, 52, recalled sharing a bank account with Ben when they joined forces to fund travel for New York auditions.
On his recent appearance on the Late Late Show with James CordenBen got real about his time sharing a Los Angeles apartment with the Bourne Identity star and his brother Casey Affleck.
The Gone Girl star admitted that Matt was so bad at cleaning there were maggots in their house and joked that his friend “never paid a bill in his life.”
Getting real: Affleck admitted that once they sold the 1997 film’s screenplay, he felt like he would ‘never have to work again’
Funny: The Gone Girl star admitted that Damon was so bad at cleaning there were maggots in their house and joked that his friend ‘never paid a bill in his life’
‘We lived in the same house. It was just easier. And Matt, as far as I know, has never paid a bill to this day. Like, “Why don’t the lights work?” I’m like, ‘Yeah, because the utility company needs money to fund our electricity.’
Ben added: ‘Matt is a lovely guy. I love him. He is my best friend. He’s been great to me all my life. He’s a brilliant guy.
“I wouldn’t recommend living with him. Because he has a gift… Do you ever know people who block things? I think that’s why he’s such a great actor, because he can just concentrate, you know what I mean?’
“We were friends and we wanted each other to succeed and we love each other so it seemed obvious, let’s do this together,” Affleck said.
The Argo star has been candid about his friendship with Matt – saying it was ‘really valuable’ to be able to support each other as they pursue their dream careers.
“Matt is a lovely guy. I love him. He is my best friend. He’s been great to me all my life. He’s a brilliant guy,” Affleck said