Ben Affleck and son Samuel support BFF Matt Damon at The Odyssey premiere afterparty after navigating four decades of friendship and fame

Ben Affleck quietly showed his support for his best friend Matt Damon and his epic new movie The Odyssey on Tuesday night.

Whilst Ben didn't walk the red carpet at the film's New York premiere, he was spotted heading into the after party with his son Samuel, 14.

The pair made a low-key entrance into the bash, where Matt was partying with his family and his co-stars.

Matt has called his lead role in Christopher Nolan's $250 million epic, 'by far the biggest thing I've ever been anywhere near,' with Ben keen to show his support after four decades of friendship. 

Matt and Ben first met when Ben was eight and Matt was 10 and grew up a block and a half away from each other in Boston. 

In an interview with Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast last week, Matt explained: 'We've experienced so much of life together. It's not a friendship that could ever be replicated, just because we grew up together.'

The pair bonded over their obsession with movies and acting ambitions, with Matt adding: 'We really were bizarre kids who were serious about acting, and we were in the union.'

'At 16 and 14 years old, we were going to New York together to audition for stuff. Our friendship was founded on quite a bit of common experience, but that was central to it and very unique to the two of us... We were together all the time writing a screenplay together.'

Matt penned the first draft of their Oscar-winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting whilst studying at Harvard, and after quitting the college he invited his childhood pal to collaborate on the project. 

Their movie, in which they also starred, went on to win two Oscars. 

Matt and Ben have more recently founded a new production company Artists Equity, releasing their first film Air in 2023, which also reunited the friends on screen. 

Their 2026 film, The Rip, marks their third collaboration in just five years, following The Last Duel and Air. 

'It's very helpful when you're working creatively with someone, because you're not worried about their feelings,' Matt said of his working relationship with Ben.

'It's just the allegiance is to the thing that we're making, and we're trying to get there as quickly as we can and as efficiently as we can. There's a deep trust,' he said, adding that working with Ben is 'a very easy experience' for them both.

 'It also ends up being just really fun, because you're doing it with, for me, it's my closest friend for 40 years, 45 years. Who else would I want to hang out with and do stuff with? ... It's about, really, the pursuit of joy in our lives and in our work.'

While appearing on a January episode of The Howard Stern Show, Matt insisted his loyalty toward his longtime pal has never wavered, even during Ben's darkest moments. 

During the conversation, Stern boldly asked Matt  whether he was able to step in and offer support to Ben amid his highly publicized personal struggles, including two divorces and battle with addiction.

'Oh, yeah, our relationship isn't affected by what people are saying,' Matt replied. 'I was there for all of it.'

Ben responded emotionally to the comment, telling his friend, 'That means a lot to me. That's sort of what a real friend is.'

Ben separated from Jennifer Garner in 2015 and later announced he had completed treatment for alcohol addiction, around the same time. 

In 2018, he released a public statement after completing a 40-day stay at a treatment center for alcohol addiction. 

Four years later, he went on to marry Jennifer Lopez, but the pair filed for divorce after just two years.

Matt married his wife Luciana in 2005, after they met while filming Stuck On You together in 2003.

The couple are parents to three daughters, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15, and Matt also adopted Luciana's daughter Alexia, 27, in 2005, with the actor's family lately a regular presence on the red carpet as The Odyssey debuts at premieres around the world.