Matthew Paige Damon ( DAY-mən; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among Forbes's most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.
Damon made his acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988) before gaining prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. He established himself as a leading man by starring as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002–2007; 2016), and Linus Caldwell in the Ocean's trilogy (2001–2007). He received a nomination for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for playing an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian (2015).