Ben Affleck Reacts to Pics of Shirtless Ripped Matt Damon
“I have to give him respect,” Affleck said during the premiere of his new movie, “The Accountant 2.”
Michael Buckner/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images
Actor Ben Affleck couldn’t help but poke fun at his long-time pal Matt Damon, who has recently had fans lusting over his shirtless photographs while filming The Odyssey.
During the premiere of his own new movie, The Accountant 2, in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Access showed Affleck, 52, photos of Damon, 54, on the set for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, leading him to tease his longtime collaborator.
“You see, this is the face that’s like, they just told him that there were photographers out there, so he’s like ‘I’m flexing my abs, are you watching me? Take my picture!’” Affleck quipped.
The viral photograph of Damon, published by People, is of the actor filming in Favignana, Italy, is from March 25. The Martian star was also spotted flaunting his action figure physique, doing back flips off a yacht into the ocean off the coast of Italy, on Friday, April 11, Page Six reported.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck at the premiere of "Good Will Hunting" at the Ziegfeld Theater.
Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
In the film The Odyssey, inspired by the epic poem, Damon plays the Greek mythological hero Odysseus.
“I have to say, I have to give him respect,” Affleck told Access. “As you get on in life, it’s less and less easy to do this, as I can tell you, and he is getting it done.”
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Affleck also returned to an action role by reprising his character Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2.
“I don’t like it, I feel like he’s upstaging me, but what are you gonna do?” Affleck joked of his friend’s transformation. “I gotta respect it. He does look pretty good, I’m kind of impressed.”
Affleck and Damon have both starred in action-oriented roles over the years, with Damon’s lead role in the 2000s Bourne trilogy and Affleck portraying Batman in more recent years. The pair became the youngest ever Best Original Screenplay Oscar winners for 1997’s Good Will Hunting.
During Affleck’s March cover interview with GQ, he suggested he wanted to visit The Odyssey's set to watch Damon be directed by Nolan.
“I may go visit Matt on the set just to watch Nolan direct,” he said at the time, likening Nolan’s work to Steven Spielberg’s. “I’m not even kidding at all.”
The Accountant 2 will be in theaters on April 25, while Damon’s The Odyssey will come out July 17, 2026.
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