Ben Affleck opened his own investigation—into himself.
After the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) visited his home amid the Los Angeles fires Jan. 11—making headlines around the world—the Argo actor admitted even he was shocked by the reports.
“As it turns out, the FBI did, in fact, visit my house,” Ben explained to GQ in an article published March 25. “I come home and I see there’s a story with sources that say, ‘Hey, the FBI was at your house,’ I’m like, ‘Well, this is strange.’”
The 52-year-old—who shares kids Violet, 19, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 13, with ex Jennifer Garner—detailed that while he found out about the visit from the news, he made a point to get to the bottom of the issue.
“I call them and say, ‘Hey, FBI, were you at my house? Do you want to talk to me?’” Ben recalled, noting the initial operators he spoke to didn’t know why his house was visited. “Finally somebody who is actually responsible for what was happening was like, ‘Oh, we had no idea that was your house.’”
Apparently, Ben is neighbors with a federal official who had his house broken into amid the Los Angeles fires and paparazzi just so happened to capture FBI members questioning nearby residents.
“So, the FBI went around and whoever lived there, the FBI rang their bell, but because there are photographers sitting outside and these guys have their FBI jackets on, then it’s: ‘The FBI has visited your house,’” Ben explained. “You’ve seen this event about the FBI at my house. I had no idea. My only involvement was to track it down, figure it out.”
And Ben also went on to dispel previous reports from the FBI themselves, who told E! News in a January statement they were “conducting activity in the area of the Palisades fire relative to unauthorized drone activity.”
“Turns out, no, it wasn’t about that,” Ben added. “In fact, we were very far from where the drone was.”
Of course, that is far from the only misconception Ben has faced in his decades-long career. Another one he jokingly dispelled? That his pal Matt Damon has the wicked smarts of his Will Hunting counterpart in their 1997 film Good Will Hunting.
As Ben joked, “Matt’s math skills, I am pretty sure, are very far from genius level.”
Unfortunately, or not, Ben has a similar experience when it comes to his Chuckie Sullivan character.
“What I didn’t realize when we made that movie was that everybody who saw that movie would more or less assume that we were those characters,” he added to GQ. “It was very easy to convince people since it was the first time they saw me that that was exactly who I was.”
One thing that is accurate when it comes to their Good Will Hunting characters, though, is the true friendship displayed between Ben and Matt in the film.
Keep reading for the pals’ most iconic—and real—moments throughout their careers…
Hometown Kids
Damon and Affleck share a scene as troubled genius Will and his devoted childhood pal Chuckie in their breakout hit Good Will Hunting, which was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Damon, Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Original Screenplay.
Made It
Awards season heats up in 1998 as Ben and Matt walk the carpet at the Golden Globes, celebrating Good Will Hunting‘s four nominations.
Hey, We Won!
Affleck and Damon pose with their first Golden Globes, Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. Affleck won another, in 2013, for directing Argo, and Damon won in 2016, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, for The Martian.
Thank You, Boston!
Best Original Screenplay winners Affleck and Damon make sure to give a shout-out to their formative hometown, which helped inspire the first-ever movie they wrote together, Good Will Hunting.
Golden Men
Damon and Affleck relish their Oscar win in 1998.
Prettiest Gals in the Room
Affleck and Damon show off their Oscar night dates—moms Chris Affleck and Nancy Carlsson-Paige—in 1998.
For Laughs
Damon and Affleck teamed up as fallen angels Loki and Bartleby in Kevin Smith‘s 1999 comedy Dogma.
Just a Couple of Dudes
Matt and Ben dress down in Miami Beach in 2006.
Super Men
Damon supports his buddy in 2006 at a screening of Hollywoodland, in which Affleck played George Reeves, the tragic actor who played Superman in the 1950s-era TV series.
Date Night
Both pals got married in 2005, and in 2008 they enjoyed a night out all together in Miami Beach. Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who have three children together, split up in 2015 and eventually divorced in 2018. Damon and wife Luciana, parents of four daughters, will celebrate 15 years of marriage in December 2020.
Same Old, Same Old
Matt and Ben hang out, ’cause that’s what they do.
You Earned It, Buddy
Naturally, Affleck was among the stars who feted (and roasted) Damon while presenting him with the American Cinematheque Award in 2010.
“I kind of started out at the same time as the guy, so this is a special night for me, too,” Ben quipped.
Best Buds
They always look ready for a marathon poker tournament.
Creative Control
The chums celebrate the return after 10 years of ProjectGreenlight, their HBO series about bringing indie films to fruition, in 2014.
Family Matter
Affleck is on hand to support brother Casey Affleck and honorary brother Damon at the 2014 premiere of Manchester by the Sea, which Affleck and Damon co-produced and for which Casey would go on to win the Oscar for Best Actor (and forget to thank Ben, which turned into a whole funny thing).
The Good Shepherds
Affleck and Damon are on hand to support Project Greenlight‘s season four winner, The Leisure Class, at the film’s 2015 premiere.
Good Will Reading
Affleck and Damon reprised their roles as Chuckie and Will for a live reading of Good Will Hunting in 2016, and enlisted some of their talented friends to sit in, including John Krasinski, who narrated; Emily Blunt playing Skylar; Keegan-Michael Key as Billy; and Margo Martindale filling the mighty shoes of the late Robin Williams as Dr. Maguire.
Wingman
Damon celebrates Affleck landing the Caped Crusader cowl in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and ensuing DC Universe films, 20 years after both actors auditioned for and didn’t get the role of Robin back when Tim Burton was making Batman movies. (The sidekick eventually showed up in Joel Schumacher‘s Batman Forever.)
We’re Back!
Affleck and Damon reunite at the Oscars in 2017 to present the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, 19 years after their momentous win.
Wait, What?
And here they are looking as amazed as anybody to see that Moonlight was the actual Best Picture winner instead of La La Land.
Sporting Scene
Matt and Ben enjoy a night out with fellow Boston sports nut Bill Simmons.
What Curse?
The lifelong Red Sox fans got emotional celebrating their team’s 2018 World Series title.
Buona Sera
Affleck and Damon hit the 2021 Venice Film Festival in support of The Last Duel, their first screenwriting collaboration since Good Will Hunting.
Slam Dunk
The Artists Equity co-founders celebrate the March 2023 premiere of Air at SXSW, the first film from their new studio. The feel-good true story stars Damon as Nike rep Sonny Vaccaro, the visionary who got a just-drafted Michael Jordan to sign with the shoe company in 1984 by convincing the future NBA superstar’s mom (Viola Davis) that they were the right fit for her son. Affleck plays Nike founder Phil Knight.
A bazillion pairs of Air Jordans sold later…
Walking on Air
In addition to co-starring and producing, Air marks Damon’s first time acting with Affleck behind the camera.
“He’s a brilliant director, people are aware,” Damon gushed to E! News about his pal at the film’s L.A. premiere. “But it was really great working with him and I’m looking forward to doing it again soon.”
Accounting on Friendship
The Martian star attended the March 2025 SXSW premiere of his producing partner’s new film The Accountant 2, and debuted a longer version of his beard in the process.
