Ben Affleck and Matt Damon 'went broke' six months after getting Good Will Hunting paychecks

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon blew all the money the money they made from Good Will Hunting in only six months.

The long-time friends, actors and screenwriters had their big break in 1997 when their film, which starred Robin Williams, won an Academy Award.

During an appearance on Friday’s episode (21 April) of The Drew Barrymore Show, Affleck explained how the pair managed to spend all their money in such a short amount of time.

After selling the film for $600,000, the pair – who lived together at the time and shared a bank account - split the money equally between each other.

Affleck was so chuffed with the money they made he thought he would ‘never have to work again,’ but that before they had to give some of the money to their agents, pay taxes and bought expensive cars.

AGENZIA SINTESI / Alamy/ Miramax

"We sold it [Good Will Hunting] for $600,000, we split that, $300,000 each, and then the agents got $30,000 so we had $270,000 and we paid about $160,000 in taxes so we had $110,000, each bought $55,000 Jeep Cherokees and then had $55,000 left," Affleck told Barrymore.

"Naturally we decided to rent a $5,000 a month party house on Glencoe Way by the Hollywood Bowl and we were broke in six months."

He continued: "We were friends and we wanted each other to succeed and we love each other, so it seemed clear like, let's do this together.”

AGENZIA SINTESI / Alamy/ Miramax

Damon recently recalled sharing a bank account with his pal during their joint interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast in March.

The Jason Bourne star said they used the shared account to pay for trips to travel to New York for auditions.

They opened the account in high school and continued using the account well into adulthood to pay bills.

“As long as one of us had money, we knew the power wasn't going to get shut off," Damon said.

"But we were going to help each other and be there for each other," Affleck shared.

The pair went on to have a very successful career and they recently worked together as producers on the Nike film Air.

During the podcast interview, Affleck made a confession about their shared account: "I still have the checkbook. I wonder if it would work?"

Now that's what you call a sign of a lifelong friendship.

Topics: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Celebrity

Gregory Robinson

Gregory is a journalist for UNILAD. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, he has worked for both print and online publications and is particularly interested in TV, (pop) music and lifestyle. He loves Madonna, teen dramas from the '90s and prefers tea over coffee.