Actor, screenwriter, producer and philanthropist Matt Damon is like The Talented Mr. Ripley. In the sense that it took him time to get to where he’s at right now. Although, not by the same means. Very rarely do actors have a breakthrough movie that they wrote themselves. Such was the case for Matt Damon with Good Will Hunting. Among many Matt Damon movies, Good Will Hunting does stand out as the one which practically launched him to stardom.

Starting out, he did skip a lot of classes at the Harvard University to pursue acting.  After some movies, Matt expected his film Geronimo: An American Legend to be a big success. He then decided to drop out of the university 12 credits short of graduating. Things just didn’t turn out as he expected. He did have to struggle for seven years to get enough work to feed himself. Until The Rainmaker and Good Will Hunting happened.

Good Will Hunting garnered several awards including the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. This movie’s screenplay was written together with his childhood friend, Ben Affleck. Matt Damon himself also garnered many Best Actor nominations for his lead performance in this film.

There definitely are many Matt Damon movies before and after Good Will Hunting and more to come. After all, he has been dubbed by Forbes magazine as Hollywood’s “best value,” with his films making $29 for each dollar he is paid.

Here are the top 5 Matt Damon movies:

The Bourne Identity (2002)

A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

When Jason Bourne is framed for a botched CIA operation he is forced to take up his former life as a trained assassin to survive.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless CIA official and his agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

In late 1950′s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures. Eventually, Tom makes Greenleaf’s privileges his own.

More Matt Damon Movies That You Should Consider

There are definitely more Matt Damon movies that made more sales.  However, his role in them weren’t as big as the ones mentioned above.  More Matt Damon movies people shouldn’t miss are: Saving Private Ryan, Ocean’s Eleven, The Rainmaker and The Departed.

“Ask anybody on the street which actors starred in the “Ocean’s” movies, and they’ll tell you it was George [Clooney] and Brad [Pitt]. I’m ‘support’ in “Ocean’s”. As I was in Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Tom [Hanks] carried that movie. You could accuse me of piggybacking on other people’s brilliance more than anything.” He said in an interview.

Charming, good looking, smart, relishes hard work, has an even temperament and devoted to his mom is how Time magazine describes this golden boy. Not to mention humble. His versatility in portraying various roles does show how brilliant an actor he really is.

Matt Damon’s Latest Movie Work

Hereafter (2010)

A drama centered on three people who are haunted by mortality in different ways. George (Damon) is a blue-collar American who has a special connection to the afterlife. On the other side of the world, Marie (de France), a French journalist, has a near-death experience that shakes her reality. And when Marcus (Frankie/George McLaren), a London schoolboy, loses the person closest to him, he desperately needs answers. Each on a path in search of the truth, their lives will intersect, forever changed by what they believe might-or must-exist in the hereafter. – Warner Brothers

Contagion (2011) (Currently Filming)

An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

Cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Jude Law, directed by Steven Soderburgh.