Matt Damon: The Man of Good Will
"So, is it true that you fell in love with Claire Danes on the set of The Rainmaker?" I ask, referring to his rumored relationship with the young actress.
"Sure, who wouldn't? She's fabulous."
"So, both girlfriends have been actresses," I say. "I'm leery of actors being together."
Damon gives me a blank look.
"Claire Danes was your girlfriend, right?" I ask.
Damon leans over and smacks my arm and says, "No, she's only 18."
As if that's ever stopped anyone before.
"Not all of my girlfriends have been actresses," Damon continues. "In fact, the love of my life was a doctor."
Love of his life? I'm practically falling off my chair in anticipation. No doubt realizing I'll hound him if he doesn't cough up the story, Damon leans back and tells it. "We were college sweethearts. I was in L.A. and she was at Columbia--it was a long distance romance, which was really hard. We did it for years, and then it was like the dynamic was becoming so fucked up because we were trying to avoid the thing of not seeing each other for a long time and then being extra careful not to say something that might upset the other one. We decided to leave it to the gods--if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. And then she married someone else."
"You're kidding. Is he a doctor, too?"
"No, he's a fucking rock star who's got $80 million and his own jet."
"That's worse, that's much worse."
"Yeah, it really is. A bad rock star, too."
By now night is falling on Manhattan. I gather my things and Damon walks me to the door. "Really, I still can't believe that people are even remotely interested in what I have to say," he says.
"Honey, people want to know everything about you."
Damon runs his hands through his thick hair, lets out a little sigh, and then bursts into laughter. He thinks I'm kidding.
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Martha Frankel interviewed Juliette Binoche for the August '97 issue of Movieline. Check out more about Martha Frankel here!
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