Matt Damon Reveals He 'Hit The Jackpot' When He Met The Bartender And Single Mom Who Became His Wife

Feb 02, 2022 by apost team

Matt Damon may be one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, but he is also a family man that is dedicated to his wife and children. The star is a producer and screenwriter as well as a critically acclaimed actor. Damon is best known for playing Jason Bourne in the "Bourne" franchise. He first rose to prominence after writing and starring in "Good Will Hunting" alongside Ben Affleck, for which they both won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1997.

Some of Damon's other iconic films include "Saving Private Ryan," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The Departed," and "The Martian." Among his many accolades are five Academy Award nominations and one win, two Golden Globe Awards, and six Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was also the recipient of seven Primetime Emmy nominations and three BAFTA nominations. 

Damon was born and raised in Massachusetts and always achieved good grades in school. He even attended Harvard after graduating from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. While at Harvard, Damon participated in theater productions. When he was 18, he was cast in the film "Mystic Pizza." The star didn't end up finishing his degree after leaving to play the lead in "Geronimo: An American Legend." But, he did end up writing a treatment for the film "Good Will Hunting" for an English class while he was there.

In 2005, Damon married Luciana Bozán Barroso, who also goes by Lucy Damon. The pair met in a bar where Lucy was working as a bartender, and they hit it off immediately. They have four daughters named Alexia, Isabelle, Gia, and Stella. Keep reading to learn more about how the couple met and why Damon doesn't go more than two weeks without seeing his family.

Damon has a very romanticized memory of the night he met his wife, but she remembers it a little differently. Lucy shared, "I was working as a bartender in South Beach (Miami) and he was shooting a movie there and the crew ended up in the bar one Saturday night… Matt's story is that he saw me across the room and there was a light on me. And I'm like: 'Yeah it was a nightclub - there were lights everywhere!'" 

The story took place in 2003 when Damon was filming "Stuck On You." The crew wanted a night off, but things took a turn after Damon was recognized by fans. Lucy said:

"But he had started getting recognized and asked for pictures and autographs, and then it got kind of aggressive because people were drinking and stuff, and so he came and hid behind my bar … (wanting to) just hang out back there and have a drink. He says 'oh I saw you and I really wanted to talk to you.'"

The couple got along immediately. Lucy added, "So I put him to work with me! I said: 'you know, if you're going to be back here, you can't just be standing there!' He had trained as a bartender for a film years before, so he started making drinks. And he made me a ton of money in tips that night because of course everyone wanted to go and see him. So it turned into a really fun night and then 15 years later here we are!"

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The mom of four also said, "We definitely had a connection right away, it was so easy to talk to each other. We were very comfortable (with each other), and by the end of the night, he invited me to go out with his friends. But I was like: 'I can't, I have a four-year-old daughter, I'm not going anywhere'… and that was one of the things he loved, that I had a daughter. He said: 'I love that you're a mum and that's your priority.'" 

It was then that Lucy knew she had found someone special. She said, "Some guys might have been different, they might think it's complicated, but for him, it wasn't. When you meet somebody that you have a connection with, that's just the person that you have a connection with, all the other stuff— the movie-star part—wasn't really a factor. It was just Matt, to me he's just Matt."

As for Damon, he knows how fortunate he is to have his family. He shared with Ellen in 2011, "I'm so happy now; I'm so lucky. I hit the jackpot with my wife."

In 2016, Damon also shared that he decides what films to be in based on how long he would have to be away from his wife and daughters. He said: 

"We have this two-week rule, but three weeks has been the longest we have ever been apart. When making the movie, I always take them and go on a big family trip. Sometimes it is an adventure. Last year I went to China for six months and it was a big family trip and that was awesome."

Do you think it is nice that Matt Damon is so devoted to his family? Are you a fan of his work? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to your friends and loved ones.