Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, writer and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting, from a screenplay he wrote with friend Ben Affleck. The pair won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay) and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for the work and Damon garnered multiple nominations for Best Actor for his lead performance in the same film.

Damon has gone on to star in films such as Saving Private Ryan, The Talented Mr. Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)), the Oceans series (Ocean?s Trilogy), the Bourne series (Bourne (film series)), Syriana, The Good Shepherd (The Good Shepherd (film)), and The Departed. He has received multiple award nominations for his film performances and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Damon is one of the top thirty-five highest grossing actors of all time. In 2007, he was named Sexiest Man Alive by People (People (magazine)) magazine.

Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, and Water.org. With his wife, Luciana Boz�n Barroso, Damon has two daughters, Isabella and Gia, and stepdaughter Alexia from Barrosos prior marriage.