<P> As a Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school student, Affleck acted in theater productions and was inspired by drama teacher Gerry Speca . During this time he became close friends with Matt Damon, whom he had known since the age of eight . Although Damon was two years older, the two had "identical interests", and traveled to New York together for acting auditions . They saved their acting earnings in a joint bank account to buy train and airline tickets . While Affleck had high SAT scores, he was an unfocused student with poor attendance . He spent a few months studying Spanish at the University of Vermont, chosen because of its proximity to his then - girlfriend, but left after fracturing his hip while playing basketball . At 18, Affleck moved to Los Angeles, studying Middle Eastern affairs at Occidental College for a year and a half . </P> <P> Affleck acted professionally throughout his childhood but, in his own words, "not in the sense that I had a mom that wanted to take me to Hollywood or a family that wanted to make money from me...I kind of chanced into something ." He first appeared, at the age of seven, in a local independent film called Dark Side of the Street (1981), directed by a family friend . His biggest success as a child actor was as the star of the PBS children's series The Voyage of the Mimi (1984) and The Second Voyage of the Mimi (1988), produced for sixth - grade science classes . Affleck worked "sporadically" on Mimi from the age of eight to fifteen in both Massachusetts and Mexico . As a teenager, he appeared in the ABC after school special Wanted: A Perfect Man (1986), the television film Hands of a Stranger (1987), and a 1989 Burger King commercial . </P> <P> After high school, Affleck moved briefly to New York in search of acting work . Later, while studying at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Affleck directed student films . As an actor, he had a series of "knock - around parts, one to the next". He played Patrick Duffy's son in the television film Daddy (1991), made an uncredited appearance as a basketball player in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film (1992), and had a supporting role as an anti-Semite in School Ties (1992). He played a high school quarterback in the NBC television series Against the Grain (1993), and a steroid - abusing high school football player in Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story (1994). Affleck's most notable role during this period was as a high school bully in Richard Linklater's cult classic Dazed and Confused (1993). Linklater wanted a likeable actor for the bad guy and, while Affleck was "big and imposing," he was "so smart and full of life...I just liked him ." Affleck later said Linklater was instrumental in demystifying the filmmaking process for him . </P> <P> Affleck's first starring film role was as an aimless art student in the college drama Glory Daze (1995), with Stephen Holden of The New York Times remarking that his "affably mopey performance finds just the right balance between obnoxious and sad sack". He then played a bully in filmmaker Kevin Smith's comedy Mallrats (1995), and became friends with Smith during the filming . Affleck began to worry that he would be relegated to a career of "throwing people into their lockers", but Smith put him in the lead role in Smith's romantic comedy Chasing Amy (1997). The film was Affleck's breakthrough . Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised Affleck's "wonderful ease" playing the role, combining "suave good looks with cool comic timing". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly described it as a "wholesome and quick - witted" performance . When Affleck starred as a recently returned Korean War veteran in the coming - of - age drama Going All the Way (1997), Todd McCarthy of Variety found him "excellent", while Janet Maslin of The New York Times noted that his "flair for comic self - doubt made a strong impression ." </P>

What movies have matt damon and ben affleck been in together