Matt Damon and Casey Affleck have spent more than four decades teasing each other, long before they became Oscar winners and shared the screen in Hollywood. Growing up just a few streets apart in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck spent their childhood pulling pranks on each other and building the kind of friendship that has lasted for more than four decades.
Years later, that history gave them plenty to laugh about during GQ’s Actually Me interview series, where Casey recalled one of Damon’s funniest childhood pranks, one that completely fooled him for months when he was just a kid.
Matt Damon Once Convinced Casey Affleck He Was A ‘Street Fighting’ Black Belt
As Casey remembered, the moment happened during one of their school bus rides. Five years younger than Damon, he often rode the same bus while spending time with friends in the neighborhood. On one particular day, Casey climbed aboard wearing his karate uniform and proudly sporting a beginner’s yellow belt.
Related: The Real Reason Why Matt Damon Gave Casey Affleck His Biggest Role In ‘Manchester by the Sea’
“I was full gi—the big fold-over white thing with the yellow belt—sitting in the back of the bus,” Casey recalled. That was all the opening Damon needed to pull one of the funniest pranks of Casey’s childhood.
Rather than showing any interest in Casey’s karate lessons, Damon casually claimed he didn’t need a martial arts uniform because he was already a “black belt in street fighting.”
Casey admitted he completely believed him. “You were probably 4’5″ tall at the time, but I bought it,” he said, laughing. “For a long time in my head, you were just a vicious, not-to-be-f—ed-with street fighter.” Damon couldn’t help but laugh as Casey retold the story.
Their Childhood Dynamic Hasn’t Changed Much
The story perfectly captures the relationship Damon and Casey have shared since growing up together alongside Casey’s older brother, Ben Affleck. With Damon five years older, he naturally slipped into the role of the older kid who loved pulling harmless pranks on his younger friend.
In Case You Missed It: Matt Damon Makes A Sweet Confession About Best Friend Ben Affleck More Than 40 Years After They First Met
That same dynamic carried into adulthood as the pair reunited for projects including ‘The Instigators‘. While promoting the Apple TV+ comedy, Damon described Casey as someone who can be both incredibly frustrating and immensely rewarding to work with because of their lifelong friendship.
“Casey drives me absolutely crazy, and I say this in a loving way, like the way your brother can drive you crazy,” Damon said. “But I love working with him because he pushes me and I push him… the dance is just entirely dispensed with, and we just are very blunt with each other.”
Damon may never have got the “black belt in street fighting” he claimed to be on that school bus, but judging by Casey’s reaction, the bluff worked exactly as intended.
You Might Also Like To Read: How Heath Ledger Beat 250 Actors To Land His Breakout Role In ’10 Things I Hate About You’
