NEED TO KNOW
Ben Affleck revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that his three kids got to visit his best friend Matt Damon on the set of The OdysseyHe also shared that the trio was a little less enthusiastic whenever he invited them to watch him on his own setsAffleck shares his kids, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner
Ben Affleck is that much closer to winning the Dad of the Year award thanks to his friend Matt Damon.
The Gone Girl star, 53, revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that he took his three kids, whom he shares with ex Jennifer Garner, Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13, to the set of Damon’s new film with director Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey.
“I did [visit the set] and I’m a huge fan of Chris’, ” Affleck recalled. “And you know it’s one of those things where my kids never want to come to the set when I’m working. [I’m] like, ‘Hey guys, we’re doing a thing on the set.’ And they’re like, ‘No, I got school.’”
“But they were really psyched to come visit this set. My middle child’s really interested in actually reading the Iliad and The Odyssey, and we went there, and it was really great,” he added.
The Air actor noted that it was a proud dad moment to get to show them the “incredible” way that “Hollywood made movies,” and especially the “great, epic, in-camera, David Lean” kind of films.
He also said that he was also thankful that Nolan allowed them to take a look behind the scenes, even though the director “believes the set’s a place to work” and is not a place for “schmoozing.”
“I was really honestly grateful that he let me come by and visit,” Affleck shared. “My kids really liked it. And so it was kind of cool. It was really, really nice. I was deeply grateful to him.”
Damon then chimed in, noting that his best friend of several years was “the only guest” Nolan had on The Odyssey set “in six months of shooting.”
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
When a baffled host Jimmy Fallon inquired if that was “really” true, Damon confirmed, saying that it was just due to the “workload.”
“It was such an ambitious project that the amount of work that needed to be done, there was just no time for anything else,” The Martian actor explained. “I’ve never, ever done a movie that just required every single person to work, to kind of give maximum effort.”
Affleck and Damon were on the show to promote their new Netflix film The Rip, a crime thriller which follows a “group of Miami cops as they discover a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on,” according to a synopsis.
Jennifer Garner and kids.
Albert L. Ortega/Getty
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It appears that Affleck isn’t only racking up dad points by bringing his kids to sets, but also in other ways. Last week, he revealed that his son, Samuel, asked him for $100 in sports betting money.
“[He] was like, ‘Hey, um, can I get like 100 bucks to bet on sports?,’ ” Affleck recalled. “What? ‘My friends get $100, but if they lose it, then that’s it.’”
“I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s a real standard, what discipline! Like, so that you don’t come twitching back like going, ‘I know that Green Bay is going to cover the over in the second half,’ ” he recalled.
The Rip premieres on Netflix Friday, January 16.