Matt Damon
Matt Damon made his West End stage debut in This Is Our Youth at The Garrick Theatre London.
Matt Damon made his feature film debut in 1988 with one line in Mystic Pizza. He went on to play Brian Dennehy's medical school dropout son in the TV movie Rising Son (TNT, 1990) and gained further attention when he returned to the big screen as a fascist preppy in Paramount's School Ties (1992). For Director Walter Hill, Mr Damon enjoyed a sizeable supporting role as the green second Lieutenant, new to the West, who narrates Geronimo: An American Legend (1993). In 1995, he appeared in The Good Old Boys, directed by Tommy Lee Jones for TNT.
Matt first gained major attention in 1996, with his performance as a guilt ridden Persian Gulf War soldier in Ed Zwick's Courage Under Fire. In 1997, he made a cameo appearance in Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. In the same year, Mr Damon starred as an idealistic young attorney in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker, based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham.
In 1998, Matt won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with longtime friend Ben Affleck for the critically-acclaimed drama Good Will Hunting. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his work in the title role. In addition both he and Mr Affleck received a Golden Globe Award for their screenplay, and Mr Damon also garnered a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. The film, directed by Gus Van Sant, received seven additional Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture and a win for Robin Williams for best supporting Actor.
The following year Matt starred in the title role of the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan for Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg and in John Dahl's Rounders. That same year he re-joined Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith and played opposite Ben Affleck in Dogma, a film about a pair of outcast angels. He also starred in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr Ripley for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.
In 2002, audiences saw Matt star in The Legend of Bagger Vance, for director Robert Redford and in the film version of the Cormick McCarthy book All The Pretty Horses for director Billy Bob Thornton. Recently he appeared in Ocean's Eleven for director Steven Soderbergh.
Matt starred in The Bourne Identity for director Doug Liman and Universal Pictures and also played the title role of Gus Van Sant's Gerry opposite Casey Affleck, which they co-wrote.
This Is Our Youth was Matt's first play since College. He is a college drop-out...