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Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso stand as one of Hollywood's most long-lasting couples, and their longevity may stem from one steadfast principle.
The Hollywood actor, who appears alongside other A-listers in Christopher Nolan's latest epic, The Odyssey, has been married to his wife, 49, since December 2005. Together, the pair has raised four daughters: Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15.
What's the key to Damon and Barroso's lasting marriage?
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A single "non-negotiable" practice they've maintained for two decades. During promotional interviews for The Odyssey, the Good Will Hunting actor, who sets boundaries on certain physical transformations, revealed he and his wife prioritize nightly family dinners. It comes after Damon shared the brutal six-word question from Clint Eastwood that shut him down.
Yet the actor acknowledged that, even while maintaining this commitment, he and his family occasionally find it challenging to remain fully engaged with one another, reports The Mirror US.
"We have family dinner every night, and that's non-negotiable, and it's always been that way," Damon shared with People, though he noted the family sometimes finds genuine connection elusive during these gatherings.
The actor revealed, "One of my daughters said, 'Well, family dinner, last night we didn't talk.' And we realized, 'Oh my gosh, you're right.' We sat down for dinner, and you can get lost in that routine a little bit and not appreciate why you established the routine in the first place."
Damon, who encountered Barroso at a Miami bar in 2003, stated, "That's the kind of family mindfulness we're all working on."
Currently, two of the couple's daughters have moved out, while their younger two still live at home.
"I feel like we are facing it and embracing the fact that it's happening," the Boston native explained regarding him and his wife approaching empty nest status. "We've been talking a lot about presence and about really trying to be in the moment, and because you can't slow time down, the only way to really do it is to really be there and be in it."
Damon noted that he and Barroso are "trying to be mindful of holding onto what we can."
The actor's candid discussion about his family follows his revelation earlier this year on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show that Barroso initially considered his Good Will Hunting co-star Ben Affleck "the cute one" in the movie.
Damon recounted, "After we'd been together for a little while, probably a few months, she admitted that - I think I met her best friend from high school, and it came out that the two of them went and saw Good Will Hunting together, and her best friend thought I was the cute one, and she thought Ben was the cute one.
"So she admitted to me... I'm like, 'You got the wrong one?' She told me that 23 years ago," the actor disclosed. Damon's most recent role as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's new epic, The Odyssey, similarly features a lasting marriage.
In the movie, which premiered in theaters on Friday, July 17, Damon portrays Odysseus, who is wed to the steadfastly devoted Penelope (Anne Hathaway), his queen, forced to ward off prospective suitors during his prolonged absence.
The production has been described as Nolan's "most extreme" work yet. With a $250 million budget, it represents the most costly project of his career and marks his first production filmed exclusively using IMAX 70mm cameras.
