‘The Martian’ Star Matt Damon Calls Ben Affleck ‘Misunderstood,’ Says JLo Made Him Look Like A ‘Talentless Meathead’

Recent comments from Matt Damon have once again pushed him to the forefront of the media. With his current movie, The Martian, debuting in theaters, Damon took some time to chat with The Hollywood Reporter about one of his best friends, Ben Affleck, and his troubled relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

In the interview, Damon stated that he believes Affleck is one of the most misunderstood individuals that he knows. According to Damon, this is largely due to Affleck’s past relationship with Lopez, in which he was unjustly characterized as a “meathead.”

“There’s nobody who’s more misunderstood,” Damon stated regarding Affleck. “Ten years ago, the public image of him could not have been farther apart from who he actually is. It was like he was being cast in a role, that he was a talentless kind of meathead, with his whole relationship with Jennifer Lopez.”

Affleck and Lopez started their relationship back in 2002, and although their relationship was serious enough that they got engaged at one point, they quickly ended things in 2004 after going through some troubled times. With that in mind, Damon went on to say that it was hard being Affleck’s friend at that point in his life due to all the negative attention surrounding him and his then girlfriend, Lopez.

“He just got cast as this person that he wasn’t,” Damon stated. “It was just really painful. It was painful to be his friend, because it wasn’t fair, you know? To my mind, nobody really got him at all.”

Despite suffering through some pretty harsh times, which included some poorly reviewed films like Gigli, Affleck has managed to build up his career to new heights. In fact, Affleck’s recent movies, including Argo, for which he won his second Oscar, and Gone Girl, have been met with a fair amount of critical acclaim in Hollywood. With Affleck set to play the role of Batman for the foreseeable future, his career appears to have no bounds.

“Through his work, he climbed from the bottom of the mountain all the way back up to the top,” Damon added. “And past where either of us had ever been.”

Meanwhile, Affleck has had his fair share of controversy in recent months following the announcement that he and Jennifer Garner had decided to get a divorce. Although this has been a major topic in regards to Affleck, Matt Damon did not say anything concerning Affleck’s most recent marital problems with Garner in this particular interview.

At the same time, Patrick Whitesell, the agent for both Affleck and Damon, recently shared some insight into both men, and what inspires them to succeed in Hollywood.

“In the marketplace, everything gets exaggerated,” he stated. “These guys are both super interested in doing a range of things — Matt’s diversity as an actor and Ben going down the road of writing, acting and directing. They’re all things that come from an artistic place, and they love the challenge of it. That spark is where they are very similar. And on a philanthropic level, they’re both very, very committed.”

With Damon’s part in The Martian and the newest Bourne movie, the actor is setting himself up for a bit of a successful run in his own career. This is just another facet of his life that appears to be linked with Affleck.

In fact, the actors are so close that they are partners in a production company, and they even live close to each other in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. With that in mind, it isn’t a surprise that Matt Damon would have great insight into Affleck’s life and even less surprising that he chose not to address any of the rumors surrounding his closest friend.

[Lead Image Courtesy: Angela Weiss/Getty]