Celebrity friends

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon share their 'least favorite' thing about each other: 'Hey!'

The pair is promoting their new movie, 'The Rip'

JANUARY 13, 2026 5:56 PM ESTJAN 13, 2026, 5:56 PM EST

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are some of the world's most famous pair of best friends. The two have known each other since they were kids, living near each other in Boston, and collaborating throughout their careers as actors, writers, and filmmakers. In a new interview, they're revealing details that they've never shared before, including the things that they don't like about each other.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck at the premiere of "Good Will Hunting" at the Ziegfeld Theater 1997 — Damon and Affleck have been friends since they were kids

Affleck and Damon were featured on "The Today Show," discussing their new film "The Rip." Show host Craig Melvin asked the pair about the things they don't like about each other, prompting some laughs. "He's not great at cleaning around the house," said Affleck.

"Hey! That was when I was younger," replied Damon.

"Well, that's all I have to go by," continued Affleck. "I mean, we could ask your wife and see if it's gotten better."

The duo won an Oscar for their film Good Will Hunting in 1998 — The pair won their first Oscars together in 1998

For his part, Damon shared that Affleck is not the most timely person. "We got here this morning, and Ben was three minutes early. He got here before me, and that's the first time in 45 years he has not been late," Damon joked.

Affleck had to reply. "Oh my God, that's a complete myth. I work hard. I'm doing other stuff."

Affleck and Damon's long friendship

Affleck and Damon grew up together, first meeting when they were 8 and 10 years old, with their friendship cementing after Affleck defended Damon from a bigger kid at school. "I remember that was like a big moment," said Damon in a 2019 appearance on "Conan." "He will put himself in a really bad spot for me. This is a good friend."

The pair are starring in 'The Rip', premiering on Netflix

The two wanted to be actors and make movies since they were kids, and decided to audition for projects together. In 1994, they wrote their first film together, "Good Will Hunting," resulting in their first Oscar as screenwriters a few years later, when it finally came out.

The two have remained friends through marriages, kids, divorces, and more. "My own kind of sanity and mental health really benefited from having someone who I grew up with and knew as a child who was also going through something similar — this 20-year-plus journey of being in the public eye — who I could reflect on it with honestly, talk things over with, be myself with, who I knew why we were friends, why he was interested and loved me, why I loved him," said Affleck in a 2021 interview with GQ.