Ben Affleck recalls going broke after renting a 'party house' with Matt Damon

Ben Affleck has admitted that he and best pal Matt Damon went broke just six months after their first big break.

During an interview with Drew Barrymore for her eponymous chatshow, the Oscar winner reminisced about their early days in Hollywood as a pair of struggling actors, revealing that the childhood friends shared a bank account long into their 20s.

Trying their hand at writing, the pair came up with the script for Good Will Hunting, selling the rights to their work in 1997 for $600,000.

Affleck, 50, thought the windfall would make them “rich for life” and that he would “never have to work again.”

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He recalled that after splitting the six-figure sum down the middle, plus paying their agents and covering their taxes, they were each left with $110,000.

And what did they do with that cash?

They bought a couple of $55,000 Jeep Cherokees.

Then, with their remaining £55,000 they decided to rent a “rent a $5,000-a-month party house” in LA, he laughed.

“And we were broke in six months."

Still, neither of the two suffered too greatly from the financial setback.

As well as writing "Good Will Hunting," the pair also starred in the film –which went on to win two Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Original Screenplay for the two best friends.

And yet, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter(THR) last month, the Argo director explained why he mostly avoided working with his BFF for years after their fateful collaboration.

"We fell prey to this idea that, ‘Well, if you don’t individuate your careers and do your own things, people will always associate you together. That will be limiting,’" he told Barrymore. "That was advice we got."

He went on: "The motivation behind making Good Will Hunting was to serve as an acting reel so that we could get jobs as actors, not because we wanted to be writers. So when we became successful and had the opportunity to do movies, we took them."

Since 1989, the dynamic duo have appeared in nine movies together, including Ridley Scott's The Last Duel in 2021. Their latest collaboration is Air, which was directed by Affleck and which centres on the true story of how Michael Jordan signed a shoe deal with Nike.

In November, Affleck and Damon launched their new production company Artists Equity, and Affleck reflected on why he felt secure in their partnership.

"I suppose the reason it works is that I trust him and love him, and I know that this is somebody with integrity," he told THR. "In this business, failure is hard, and success is confusing and can make you lose your bearings. Having that friendship as a touchstone over the years was really meaningful."

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