GK: This Odyssey Star Once Acted With A US Supreme Court Justice. Do You Know Who?
GK: This Odyssey Star Once Acted With A US Supreme Court Justice. Do You Know Who? Published By, Last Updated: July 22, 2026, 19:02 IST
GK: This Odyssey Star Once Acted With A US Supreme Court Justice. Do You Know Who? Published By, Last Updated: July 22, 2026, 19:02 IST A decades-old college memory resurfaced during The Odyssey promotions, revealing an unexpected connection between Hollywood and the US Supreme Court. Emma Thomas, Tom Holland, Matt Damon and Christopher Nolan pose on the red carpet during the Mumbai premiere of The Odyssey, in Mumbai, India. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Imagine walking into a college acting class and finding a future Hollywood superstar, a future US Supreme Court Justice and the seeds of an Oscar-winning film—all in the same room. That’s exactly the story Matt Damon recently shared while promoting The Odyssey. Long before he became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars — and years before she took her seat on the US Supreme Court — Damon shared a college acting class with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The unlikely revelation resurfaced during Damon’s promotional tour for The Odyssey, when he and co-star Anne Hathaway reacted to Jackson recalling that the two had once been paired together for a classroom acting scene.
Speaking in an interview with CBS News’ Adriana Diaz, Justice Jackson said she and Damon took a drama class together while they were in college. “Matt Damon and I were in a drama class together, and we were paired for a scene… At that time, he was already well known. People were thinking he might be a big actor. So it was a big deal," she said, adding that she now watches him on screen and thinks, “I know that guy." Damon admitted he had not immediately connected the Supreme Court Justice with his former classmate until her nomination made headlines. “I remember the class… but I didn’t put it together until I heard that. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Then I ran around telling my kids, ‘You know who I did a scene with?'" he recalled, laughing. Asked whether he had been bragging about knowing Jackson, Damon replied with a grin: “Of course." The Classroom Where Good Will Hunting Took Shape The surprises did not end there.
Damon revealed that the very same acting class also became an early testing ground for Good Will Hunting, the Oscar-winning screenplay he wrote with longtime friend Ben Affleck. “In that class, Ben came in to read… we read some scenes from Good Will Hunting. We started workshopping them in that class too," Damon said. That prompted Anne Hathaway to sum up what many viewers were probably thinking. “Okay, so that class was the place to be." From a future Hollywood icon and a future US Supreme Court Justice to the early days of Good Will Hunting, it turns out one college acting classroom quietly produced far more history than anyone could have imagined. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit Key Questions Answered How did Matt Damon and Ben Affleck meet? Matt Damon and Ben Affleck met in a college acting class where they read scenes from their Oscar-winning screenplay, Good Will Hunting.
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