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The Joe Rogan Experience

#2440 - Matt Damon & Ben Affleck

16 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?

0.031 - 27.379 Ben Affleck

the joe rogan experience train by day joe rogan podcast by night all day that's wild i went in because i came in from miami i think i was living at the time and i went in and uh and uh I'm sitting in the waiting room and it was like on a Sunday because I was like, I'm only in town for you. And Stan was like, I'll come into the office. I'm like, thank you so much.

0

27.399 - 41.275 Ben Affleck

I had to have a filling or whatever I needed. It's kind of an emergency. So I'm sitting in the thing and I'm not getting called in. No, no, there's not even a receptionist. And Stan comes out with his mask on.

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41.735 - 45.259 Joe Rogan

No, the first thing I hear is, pig fucker, fucking cock sucker.

0

45.728 - 62.852 Ben Affleck

And I'm like, what is happening in there? It's in the other room. And Stan comes in, he goes, sorry. He goes, I'll be with you soon. He goes, I got Hunter in the chair. And he goes back. And I hear, listen to Hunter Thompson swear for like 15 minutes. I'm like, this is amazing. And then Stan goes, okay, come on back. And Hunter's kind of getting out.

0

63.933 - 81.169 Ben Affleck

And he goes, oh, you're sitting down with this guy? He's a fucking assassin. And then he goes, and he's got this jug of clear fluid. And he's like, you're going to need a sip of this. And I'm like, oh my God, this is fucking Hunter S. Thompson's moonshine.

82.671 - 85.314 Unknown

I'm like, this is fucking amazing.

85.334 - 94.647 Ben Affleck

I'm talking to this dude for 30 seconds and I'm getting a sip. And it was like 10 in the morning on a Sunday. Yeah. He was halfway through the jug.

95.047 - 96.89 Matt Damon

Where was this?

97.07 - 99.173 Ben Affleck

In Beverly Hills. Yeah.

Chapter 2: What memorable encounter did they have with Hunter S. Thompson?

167.327 - 176.057 Matt Damon

No, it's interesting to watch the evolution of his writing, too. You know, like, I read Hell's Angels, and it's, like, very different. Yeah, it's early.

0

176.077 - 192.585 Unknown

He's kind of restrained, and he was quite, like— For that, I think it was edgy sort of for the time. You know, like, oh, you're gonna get beaten, chain whipped and stomped by the Angels. And that was really edgy. And by the time they got into, what, a sphere loading in 72 or something like that, he was just out there. He found his voice.

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192.826 - 210.954 Matt Damon

He did find his voice. He was supposed to be covering a race for, like, Sports Illustrated. Yeah. You're loathing when I read a book about how I fucking lost my mind. Great. It's great, Hunter. We'll take it. Well, hey, it's very nice to meet you guys. I've met you before, but it's very nice to meet you.

0

210.994 - 211.535 Joe Rogan

It's a pleasure, man.

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211.555 - 227.796 Matt Damon

Thank you very much. I love the fucking movie. The rip is great. It's really good. It's so original, and it's so different. You know, it's like I love those kind of movies, but it's not like any one that I've ever seen before. Really solid movie. Thanks, dude. Thank you. It was awesome.

227.911 - 229.495 Ben Affleck

So much better than you hating it.

229.635 - 232.342 Unknown

The interviews where they're like, so I saw the movie.

232.362 - 242.907 Ben Affleck

Anyway, how you guys been? We've had a lot of those. The press junkets where they come in and the first thing that you know the movie sucks. If they don't ask you anything about the movie, they come in and they go, so how you been?

242.927 - 253.223 Matt Damon

And you're like, oh shit, this is going to be bad. Is it weird, like, the transformation of the film industry seems to, like, a lot of it is moving towards these big streaming movies now.

Chapter 3: How has the film industry changed with streaming services?

749.534 - 752.797 Unknown

I wish that were, that feels more like the exception.

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753.137 - 757.621 Ben Affleck

It's so masterfully made that it feels a little more like the exception. I hope it's not.

0

757.641 - 773.436 Unknown

My feeling is just that it demonstrates that you don't need to do any of that shit to get people, you know what I mean? Like, and I think, you know, yes, you know, like, look, hey, the town had the action scene in the beginning of the first five minutes. You know what I mean? Like, it's a common trick that you would go like, let me grab them and get them invested.

0

773.456 - 779.541 Unknown

And it's like the movies that start with the hero hanging from the cliff. And now we're going to flash back to the beginning and tell you how they got there.

0

779.521 - 796.336 Unknown

It's, you know, I always feel like, you know, complaining about it makes me feel like one of these guys was like, when I was a boy, like, you always want to freeze the culture at the time when you, I don't know, felt more like, you know, we didn't used to have these phones. What the fuck are all these phones? And everybody's looking at their phone. I get it. Yes, it's true.

796.897 - 812.092 Unknown

Also, it's like supply and demand. People want to look at their phone. They can look at TikTok. They want, you know, they're going to do that. I think what you can do is make shit the best you can. Make it really good. And... you know, people can still go to the movies. It's not like, I think we have this idea that it's like an existential threat.

812.132 - 827.291 Unknown

Everything that comes along is gonna destroy everything. Instead of like, what history suggests is that there's like marginal encroachments, things shift. Yup, as television came along, there was less theater going, and that's still gonna happen. And people are still gonna go to the movies because of what you said. Like, it feels like a cool thing to do.

827.691 - 848.374 Unknown

I'm gonna go see the Odyssey, I guarantee you, in a theater, you know, no matter what. Fewer of them. You could argue that's because I have more choice or whatever it is. It's hard to fight supply and demand. That's the trick, right? If people want to watch a bunch of stuff at home because they invested in TVs and cost us money, they will. So, okay. But the upside of that is...

848.54 - 860.362 Unknown

Like I can try to do something hopefully that's like that actually doesn't need to, you know, have the most urgency to get you to come to the theater with your family. That's a little more experimental or risk taking or whatever in that way.

Chapter 4: What insights do they share about the evolution of storytelling in film?

2265.365 - 2286.276 Matt Damon

Well, I think the more it becomes ubiquitous, the more people are going to appreciate real things that are made by real people. You know, like you still appreciate a handmade table. You know, you're going to appreciate it. Like, did you see The Beast and Me, Claire Danes? Yeah. No, I didn't. Fucking great. Yeah, I heard it was great. That lady. Woo. It was terrific.

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2286.256 - 2298.557 Matt Damon

When she's in a scene, you're just like, Jesus Christ. Great, great actress. Her fucking lips are quivering. You believe everything that she's saying. But you're right. People want that. You can't fake that.

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2298.637 - 2322.146 Ben Affleck

I did this interview with Dwayne Johnson because when people are in these awards things, they sometimes have other actors interview them. I did this interview with Dwayne, and I asked him, there's this scene in The Smashing Machine where he's overdosed on drugs and his buddy comes to see him in the hospital. Yeah. And it really walloped me, this scene. I thought it was so great.

0

2322.386 - 2335.939 Ben Affleck

And I asked him, and I was just like, can you just tell me about this scene? Like, did Benny Safdie direct it? Did Benny write that? Did you work on that scene with him? He goes, no, we actually worked on it together. And I go, well, how did that scene come to be? And Dwayne goes...

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2335.919 - 2352.399 Ben Affleck

Well, my father was an alcoholic, and I don't remember if he said substance abuser or alcoholic, but I didn't know the man. I don't want to impugn him, but he had a substance issue, whatever it was. He goes, and when he would talk to me, that's how he – would defend himself.

2352.439 - 2368.312 Ben Affleck

It was almost a bargaining thing, because there's this thing when this guy comes to him, he's overdosed, and Dwayne's amazing in this scene. He's going like, he's going like, yeah, isn't it crazy? And then I woke up and thought, I mean, I could hear him, but I couldn't really hear him. And you see him, and he's kind of tap dancing, and his friend finally kind of holds his feet to the fire.

2369.114 - 2392.217 Ben Affleck

And at that moment, Dwayne literally starts to burst into tears and just pulls the hospital sheet up over his head and it's like and it's and it's i mean it's just it was i'm not doing it justice if you haven't i mean i know i know you've seen it yeah but um he said yeah so he explains that about his father and then he goes

2392.197 - 2417.064 Ben Affleck

And when my mom was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer, I was with her when the oncologist came in and she was lying in the hospital bed. And when he gave her the news, she pulled the sheet up over her head. And I looked at her and she just looked like a little kid, you know? And I was like, all right. Like, so that, right, is two traumatic events from this guy's life, right?

2417.344 - 2447.119 Ben Affleck

From his life experience. And the actor in him, right? Sees this scene, goes into his memory, pulls these two things out, understands that they're appropriate for this scene and he can marry them together in the scene. And then he goes and performs it that way. And a dude walking in off the road goes to the movies, sees this. understands somehow that it's fucking real. I didn't know why.

Chapter 5: What insights do Matt Damon and Ben Affleck share about personal motivations in storytelling?

4583.259 - 4590.11 Ben Affleck

And it changed the play. But Williams, in all of his writings- So much more reflects life in the real world.

0

4590.27 - 4597.883 Unknown

So everybody's the hero of their story. Everyone has their reasons for why they're doing it. And people don't set out to be like, I'm just going to hurt someone or dominate the world.

0

Chapter 6: How do Matt Damon and Ben Affleck perceive the impact of public scrutiny on celebrities?

4598.404 - 4610.765 Unknown

You think, well, I got to protect what I have. It's like, you know, not to bring it back to this movie, but it's like what I liked about Rip was it was kind of the slippery slope. You know, the first time you take a little money And then, well, you know, I got to cover that. I don't want to go to jail.

0

Chapter 7: What is the significance of forgiveness and redemption in their discussions?

4610.805 - 4629.758 Unknown

My reason why I did that. But now I've told a lie. Now I got to cover that thing. And now you have guys who both live by this code that's very, hey, you protect the people who are with you and you got to have this fucking. And so now it's to be very similar, like by that kind of slippery slope of ultimately find themselves, you know, kill one another.

0

Chapter 8: How do they address the challenges of aging in the film industry?

4629.738 - 4650.819 Unknown

because it's really not, I don't believe in that one choice turn. It's like more, how do you find yourself? You dig yourself in a fucking hole, because you're just covering up the, trying to fix the last problem that's arisen, you know? And everybody thinks, is of course the roots for themself. It's like, that's what we have to be concerned with ourselves, our needs, our families, our basic shit.

0

4651.36 - 4675.728 Unknown

It's hard to expect people to go like, all right, and what about, you know, like what they think? And I think that's, I think it's a much more honest evaluation of people and it allows for like complexity and forgiveness and fucking all the shit that's sort of beautiful about people. Like rather than this notion of like, well, we're gonna be binary, good or bad, perfect or not, whatever.

0

4675.788 - 4679.775 Unknown

And any infraction, then it's like permanently stains you.

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4679.755 - 4693.609 Matt Damon

Right. Like we were talking about earlier about people that have been canceled, you know, that this idea that one thing you said or one thing you did and now we're going to exaggerate that to the fullest extent and cast you out of civilization.

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4693.649 - 4694.831 Ben Affleck

In perpetuity. Yeah.

4694.931 - 4696.552 Matt Damon

It's fucking crazy. Yeah.

4697.133 - 4710.451 Ben Affleck

I was because because I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever and then come out and say, no, but I. We can't – I paid my debt. Like we're done.

4711.032 - 4711.633 Joe Rogan

Can we be done?

4711.673 - 4726.553 Ben Affleck

The thing about that getting kind of excoriated publicly like that, it just never ends. And it's the first thing that – it just will follow you to the grave I think.

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