Ben Affleck Is Taking Credit for Matt Damon's Film Career

If you're a Matt Damon stan, send your regards to his best friend, Ben Affleck. In a new interview on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show, Affleck explained that being a child actor "did two things."

"One, it instilled in me a deep love and affection for this art and craft and line of work," Affleck said.

Digging back into his IMDb page shows that Affleck got his start on a PBS series called The Voyage of the Mimi, which he called "a kids' science and math adventure, sort of pre-Dora the Explorer show." Damon wasn't on the show, but that's what Affleck credits with his friend's drive to succeed. Damon was jealous.

"And it made Matt Damon so incredibly jealous, and drove him into a career in cinema," Affleck continued. "So I really take credit for that."

By now, the story is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Affleck and Damon grew up together in Boston and shared theatrical pursuits, dreaming of making it big. According to Entertainment Weekly, Damon said that Affleck always got the "biggest roles and longest speeches."

So, Affleck is taking the credit for Jason Bourne, Linus Caldwell, Tom Ripley, and all of Damon's other roles. Of course, the two shared in the glory, too, winning an Oscar for writing the Good Will Hunting screenplay together. EW notes that they're back at it with The Last Duel, which they've written and is set to be directed by Ridley Scott.