Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on how they blew $600,000 Good Will Hunting pay in six months

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, known as Hollywood’s favorite duo, have spoken of what they learned regarding taxes after they sold their script to Good Will Hunting for $6,00,000 in 1997. This newly acquired wealth did not prepare them to meet what they found to be a complex American tax system. They spoke of their experience as they appeared as guest stars of Howard Stern Show radio programme on January 12.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck open up on their bond beyond the box office

"It turns out, Howard, you have to pay these things called taxes," Ben joked, remembering how their "rich for life" plans dissolved just as quickly. After agent commissions and IRS payments, the two were left with around $110,000 apiece. They went through the money quickly enough to afford duplications of $55,000 Jeep Cherokees and a $5,000-per-month "party pad" just down the road from the Hollywood Bowl. "We were broke in six months," Ben confessed.

The interview, part of a press tour for their new series on Netflix, The Rip, also ventured into other domains. The actors, 55, and 53, respectively, spoke about how their friendship has been a “sane” refuge within the mayhem of superstardom.

Matt spoke openly about being there for Ben in his struggles with alcohol and his divorces from Jennifer Garner and now Jennifer Lopez. “I was there for all of it,” Matt pointed out, laughing, and said that the friendship has not been touched by the stories in the papers. Ben agreed, talking about being the definition of what it means to have a “real friend.”

Although Ben and Jennifer Lopez are now finalising their divorce in early 2025, Ben’s first wife, Jennifer Garner, has now revealed her own take on her own divorce experience in a leading magazine’s recent most issue. For Matt and Ben, the transit from sharing a joint account at a bank in Cambridge to heading large film studios seems to have reinforced their 'solidarity.'

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