Ben Affleck and Matt Damon used to share a bank account in order to fund acting auditions.
The Oscar-winning duo have famously been friends for the entirety of their careers and beyond, and that friendship even extended beyond the usual boundaries. Appearing on a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast (as per Variety), the two actors revealed they had one bank account between them starting in the late 1980s.
The pair set up the bank account to help make their dreams of making it in Hollywood a reality. “It was unusual, but we needed the money for auditions,” Damon said, before adding the arrangement was “a weird thing in retrospect.”
Weighing in, Affleck said: “We were going to help each other and be there for each other. It was like, ‘You’re not going to be alone. I’m not going to be alone. Let’s go out there and do this together.’”
Explaining the general gist of how it worked, the actors explained that any time Affleck or Damon booked a role the money from the gig would get deposited into the bank account. “As long as one of us had money we knew the power wasn’t going to get shut off,” Damon explained. “After doing [1992′s] Geronimo I probably had 35 grand in the bank. I was like ‘we’re good for a year.’”
There were ground rules, but being young men trying to make it in Hollywood these rules got tested at times. Damon said: “You were allowed to go to [auditions in] New York with the money. You were allowed to take out $10 and get quarters and go to [the arcade] and play video games. Eventually we were allowed to try to buy beer, which never fucking worked.”
Affleck later added: “I love working with this guy. I love hanging out with him. If you can work with great people, who are good people too, it’s so much more rewarding personally and professionally.”
The pair are set to share the screen once more in the forthcoming Air, which tells the story of how Nike created the Air Jordan sneaker with Michael Jordan. Affleck directs and co-stars in the film, and recently revealed Jordan had some demands if he was going to give his blessing to the film.