American actor Matt Damon made his film debut with a small role in Mystic Pizza (1988), after which he played several supporting roles. His first leading role was in the legal drama film The Rainmaker (1997). His breakthrough came later that year when he played the title role of an unrecognized genius in Good Will Hunting, which he also co-wrote with Ben Affleck. They won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Damon was nominated for Best Actor. He followed it by playing the title roles of a soldier in Steven Spielberg's war drama Saving Private Ryan (1998) and of the criminal Tom Ripley in the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), both of which gained critical and commercial success. Damon and Sean Bailey worked on the television series Project Greenlight since 2000, helping newcomers make their first film.

Damon's profile continued to expand in the 2000s, as he took on starring roles in two lucrative film franchises. He played a con man in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and played the titular spy Jason Bourne in four films of the Bourne series (2002–2016). Damon played an energy analyst in the thriller film Syriana (2005) and starred in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed crime film The Departed (2006). He played the rugby player Francois Pienaar in the sports film Invictus (2009), gaining a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Damon continued to gain praise for his collaborations with Soderbergh on the crime film The Informant! (2009) and the drama Behind the Candelabra (2013). His portrayal of Scott Thorson in the latter earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Damon's biggest commercial successes in the 2010s came with the western True Grit (2010), and the science fiction films Elysium (2013) and The Martian (2015). In the latter, which earned over $630 million to become his highest-grossing release, he played a botanist stranded on Mars, for which he received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Interstellar (2014) earned over $670 million, with Damon in a minor role. Following a series of poorly received films, Damon had a success in the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019), in which he portrayed Carroll Shelby. He co-wrote, produced, and starred as Jean de Carrouges in the period drama The Last Duel (2021), which despite positive reviews was not financially profitable. In 2023, Damon portrayed Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in Affleck's acclaimed sports drama Air, as well as Leslie Groves in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.