Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his screenwriting in Good Will Hunting and was nominated for his lead performance in the same film. Growing steadily in popularity from the 1997 film, he has since matched up with A-list actors in mainstream films, and today is rated amongst the top actors in Hollywood.

With his wife, Luciana Bozán Barroso, Damon has a daughter, and also a stepdaughter from Barroso's prior marriage. He has won multiple awards for his film performances and is one of the top twenty-five highest grossing actors of all time. Damon has been actively involved in several charitable organizations, including the ONE Campaign and H2O Africa Foundation. In his most recent roles, he portrayed Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum, and had an uncredited cameo in Youth Without Youth. His next upcoming role will be in Margaret, expected to be released in 2008.

Matt Damon was born in 1970. His father, Kent Damon, a tax preparer, and his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a college professor, are now divorced. His older brother, Kyle (b. 1967), is a sculptor. Matt's first film role was a one-line part in Mystic Pizza (1988). Hollywood's power brokers realized his potential as a serious actor when they saw him play a Gulf War vet-turned-heroin addict in Courage Under Fire (1996). One of Matt's closest childhood friends was fellow young thespian Ben Affleck, who starred in Chasing Amy (1997). Damon and Affleck collaborated on the screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997), in which they co-star.