Through thick and thin, Matt Damon will always support Ben Affleck. In a new interview, the Suburbicon actor shared his thoughts about his BFF’s massive back tattoo.
“It’s not one man’s job to tell another man what he can do to his back,” Damon, 47, said during an appearance on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah on Wednesday, March 21. “You know, I support him in all of his artistic expression.”
With a laugh, host Trevor Noah replied, “Fair enough. That’s a good friend answer, actually.”
The Manchester by the Sea producer also joked during the interview that Affleck, 45, just can’t get enough of him. “Unfortunately, I can’t seem to shake him,” he quipped. “I’ve known him since I was 10, so it’s [been] 37 years.”
The movie stars grew up together as children in Massachusetts before they both landed their big break with the 1997 drama Good Will Hunting. They cowrote and starred in the Robin Williams-led movie, which was nominated for nine Oscars, including best picture. The duo won best screenplay for the film.
The Gone Girl actor first unveiled his tattoo of a colorful phoenix on the set of Live by Night in Los Angeles in December 2015. “A phoenix rising from the ashes,” his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, later told Vanity Fair. “Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.”
Though a source confirmed to Us Weekly at the time that Affleck’s ink was real, he claimed to Extra in 2016 that it was actually “for a movie.” However, the tattoo made headlines again when the actor put it on full display on Thursday, March 15, while going shirtless on a beach in Hawaii.
