“I think it would’ve meant we wouldn’t have been able to work together anymore,” the “The Rip” star joked.

Ben Affleck reveals the Matt Damon movie he’s glad he wasn’t in: ‘People would’ve been sick of us forever’

"I think it would've meant we wouldn't have been able to work together anymore," the "The Rip" star joked.

By Mike Miller

Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writer-reporter for PEOPLE and TMZ.

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January 16, 2026 6:20 p.m. ET

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Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 'The Rip'. Credit:

Warrick Page/Netflix

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have collaborated on more than a dozen films over the past 30 years, but there's one movie Affleck admits he's glad Damon did solo.

When the duo sat down with * *in support of their latest joint project, crime-thriller *The Rip*, we asked them a hypothetical question: Which movie from the other's filmography would they have liked to have starred in themselves.

"The only problem with that thought exercise is taking that movie away from him; it means that he didn't get to do it," Damon muses. "And the whole inspiration starts with what he did in the movie."

Affleck has an easier time picking one of his pal's movies that he's happier he didn't take part in.

"I'll tell you what I *wouldn't* have liked to have done, because I think it would've meant we wouldn't have been able to work together anymore, is play Greg Kinnear's part in Stuck With You," Affleck offers with a laugh. "I think that would've been pushing it, trying to lean too much into the narrative."

Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in 'Stuck on You'.

20th Century studios/everett

**"People would've been sick of us forever," Damon agrees.

"Yeah, they'd be like, 'That's it. No more!'" Affleck jokes, before adding, "I love that movie, though."

In the 2003 comedy written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, Damon played one-half of a pair of conjoined twins alongside Kinnear. Also starring Eva Mendes and Cher (as herself), the film featured a slew of celebrity cameos, including Jay Leno, Meryl Streep, Luke Wilson, Frankie Muniz, and Tom Brady (who appeared uncredited). Still, the film received mixed reviews and failed to make much of a splash at the box office.

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In *The Rip*, Affleck and Damon play Miami cops whose loyalties are put to the test when they find millions in drug money hidden in a rundown home.

"It was a page turner," Damon says about what attracted him to the script. "There are these competing agendas, and people aren't saying exactly what's going on, and you're trying to figure out who you can trust, who you can't, who's the good guy, who's the bad guy."

To prepare for the role, they both spent time with real police officers. "All the stuff that I find surprising and that I tend to be proud of comes from research," Affleck says of the experience. "I think I'm better skilled at recognizing interesting things from the world that I can put into films than just conjuring up from my imagination something to do."

Steven Yeun, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Kyle Chandler in 'The Rip'.

Claire Folger/Netflix

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"All of us are there just madly stealing all their life's details and quirks and wardrobe habits," Damon adds. "It's gotta be a weird feeling when a bunch of actors descend on you and ask like, 'What kind of glasses are those?' 'Where did you get that shirt?'"**** Also starring recent Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor, Kyle Chandler, and Steven Yeun, *The Rip* is streaming now on Netflix.**

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