Ben Affleck revealed that he and Matt Damon blew through all of the money from Good Will Hunting and went bankrupt in just six months back in their early days.
The actor, 50, appeared on Friday’s broadcast of The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss his new film Air and his rise to prominence.
The two sold the script for Good Will Hunting, which won them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1997, for $600,000 and spent it all in six months on Jeeps and a party home in Los Angeles.
Damon said to IMDB that they had to flip a coin to choose who gets which color of their luxurious jeeps.
The Air director reminisced about his and Matt’s early Hollywood days when they shared a bank account to fund their acting careers.
Ben Affleck claimed that after they sold the screenplay for the 1997 film, he felt like he’d ‘never have to work again.’
As two young developing actors attempting to make a name for themselves in the film industry, they were quickly confronted with the realities of their financial situation.
Ben Affleck 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.’
‘Naturally we decided to rent a $5,000 a month party house on Glencoe Way by the Hollywood Bowl and we were broke in six months.’
During an interview for The Bill Simmons Podcast, Matt, 52, recounted sharing a bank account with Ben Affleck to cover visits to New York for auditions.
Ben Affleck opened up about his time sharing an apartment in Los Angeles with the Bourne Identity star and his brother Casey Affleck on the Late Late Show with James Corden.
The Gone Girl star revealed that Matt was so awful at cleaning that their house had maggots in it and quipped that his partner ‘never paid a bill in his life’.
Ben Affleck
‘We lived in the same house. It was just easier. And, also, Matt’s never paid a bill to this day that I know of. Like, ‘Why aren’t the lights working?’ I’m like: ‘Yes, because the utility company needs money to fund our electricity.’
Ben Affleck added: ‘Matt’s a beautiful guy. I love him. He’s my best friend. He’s been great to me my whole life. He’s a brilliant guy.
‘I would not suggest living with him. Because he has an ability… You ever know people that block things out? I think that’s why he’s such a great actor, because he can just focus, you know what I mean?’
‘We were friends and we wanted each other to succeed and we love each other, so it seemed clear like, let’s do this together,’ said Ben Affleck.
The Argo star opened out about his long-time connection with Matt, saying that being able to support each other while following their dreams was really valuable.
