Matt Damon and Ben Affleck: On and Off Screen - Softcover

Berk, Sheryl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061071455 ISBN 13: 9780061071454

Publisher: HarperEntertainment, 1998

Synopsis

Meet Hollywood's New Dynamic Duo...

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. These long-time best buds and movie studs not only penned and starred in their own box office smash, Good Will Hunting, but went on to win the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Screenplay, too! Just how did these Cambridge cuties conquer Hollywood? With a rare combination of killer confidence, scrumptious sex appeal, and serious smarts--that's how. Can't decide which one of these wonder boys you want to get to know more? Let this guide introduce you to them both!

Inside you'll find:

1. All the details you've been hunting for: stuff about their way-cool lives after the cameras stop rolling, the scoop on how they plan to top their lates successes, who the key influences in their lives have been, their loves, their passions, and much more.
2. A filmography of past, present, and future flicks.
3. The story of how these buddies first bonded and how they've managed to keep their friendship superglued over time.
4. Their school-day ties--you'll discover who bore the moniker "the warrior," who had the greater appetite for adventure, and who was considered the class clown way back then. The answers might surprise you.
5. Cool quizzes reveal who's more kissable, how these guys charmed the studios into looking their way, and where their favorite places to hang are, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.
6. Plus, irresistible color photos.
7. Coverage of the Big Night: Backstage at the Oscars with the tux-clad twosome and on the party circuit afterward!
8. Notable quotables, little-known truths, and more, more, more.

About this title

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Sheryl Berk has collaborated with numerous celebrities on their memoirs and lifestyle books. She is the founding editor in chief of Life & Style Weekly as well as a contributor to InStyle, Martha Stewart, and other publications.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Chapter One

America's Most Wanted

You'd have to be living on mars to NOT know the names of Hollywood's two newest hotshots--Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Although they are way too modest to admit it, even they are aware that they're (as Jim Carrey might say) "smokin'!"

The pair is everywhere: on magazine covers (Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, People); on talk shows (an entire hour on Oprah!); and even in the casts of this summer's anticipated blockbuster movies (Ben in Armageddon and Matt in Saving Private Ryan) .

Why all the buzz about these boy wonders?

Well, for starters, they're drop-dead gorgeous: Ben's rippling muscles and Matt's sexy smirk can reduce any girl to a quivering mound of Jell-O. But looks aren't everything: add Ivy League smarts, natural-born talent, and razor-sharp repartee to the mix and you've got one--better make that two!--irresistible packages.

Sure, critics tried to write them off as the dreamboats du jour at first--they could have easily fit into the Hollywood Frat Pack. But these Good Will wunderkinder are different. At twenty-something, they are extremely resourceful, possess an integrity way beyond their years, and have a well-honed instinct for navigating the shark-infested waters of the movie biz. Quite simply, Ben and Matt refuse to sell out.

"I'm certainly never going to be anyone's sex symbol," Matt humbly told Vanity Fair "It's easy to get caught up, but you have to be yourself," Ben chimed in. And they mean it. They could have handed over their screenplay to any number of studios, but instead they held out for one that would be true to their vision. While other leading men stock their closets with Calvin and Armani once they make it big, Ben and Matt have opted to keep their low-profile baggy jeans, clunky work boots, and seven-day stubble ("I never shave unless I have to!" explains Ben). And supping at Spago? Fah-ged-aboud-it! These show-biz bigwigs prefer to belly up to the all-you-can-eat surf-and-turf bar at their local Sizzler's.

Maybe that's their greatest appeal--they're REAL. Despite the fame, fortune, fans, and now their new pal Oscar, they've remained the same nice guys they've always been. Above all, they're still best buds and have been since their childhood days in Cambridge, Massachusetts. just yesterday, they were a couple of kids dreaming of the big time, "taking business lunches" in the high school cafeteria, and rehearsing their goofy Academy Awards acceptance speeches (mouthwash bottle in hand) in front of the bathroom mirror. They both struggled with acting careers and college, and survived the "lean, mean Spam cuisine years," according to Ben.

It's been such a whirlwind year for them both. Perhaps somebody should pinch them (any volunteers?). "I can't believe it," Matt says of how far they've come. But he and Ben always believed in themselves and their abilities. "our moms used to say, Why don't you two just become doctors?'" he recently told Interview. "I'm glad we didn't listen." Us, too.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperEntertainment
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0061071455
• ISBN 13: 9780061071454
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128