Birthday's to share this week : 8th-14th May 2016

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Domhnall Gleeson does on 12th May - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 33, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 8th May

• David Attenborough - Born 1926, turns 90 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Conservationist
• Michel Gondry - Born 1963, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Melissa Gilbert - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress

Monday 9th May

• Glenda Jackson - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actress | Politician
• Candice Bergen - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress | Producer
• Rosario Dawson - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress | Producer
• Albert Finney - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Producer
• James L. Brooks - Born 1940, turns 76 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Allan Bennett - Born 1934, turns 82 - Writer | Producer | Actor  

Tuesday 10th May

• Bono - Born 1960, turns 56 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor
• Maureen Lipman - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress
• Meg Foster - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actress  

Wednesday 11th May

• Holly Valance - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actress
• Frances Fisher - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actress
• Tim Blake Nelson - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director  

Thursday 12th May

• Gavin Hood - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jason Biggs - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Domhnall Gleeson - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor | Writer
• Emilio Estevez - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Gabriel Byrne - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Stephen Baldwin - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Ving Rhames - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Emily VanCamp - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actress  

Friday 13th May

• Zoe Wanamaker - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress
• Robert Pattinson - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actor | Producer
• Harvey Keitel - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actor | Producer
• Joe Johnston - Born 1950, turns 66 - Director | Producer
• Tim Pigott-Smith - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor
• Stephen Colbert - Born 1964, turns 52 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actor  

Saturday 14th May

• Tim Roth - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director
• George Lucas - Born 1944, turns 72 - Writer | Producer | Director | Editor
• Robert Zemeckis - Born 1952, turns 64 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Danny Huston - born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Director
• Cate Blanchett - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Sofia Coppola - Born 1971, turns 45 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actress

Domhnall Gleeson was born in Dublin, Ireland, to mother Mary Weldon and Actor father Brendan Gleeson. He is the eldest of four sons - the others being Fergus, Ruairi and Brian, also an Actor. He attended Malahide Community School - a co-educational school located in Malahide, County Dublin and subsequently graduated from the Dublin Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Media Arts.

After graduating Gleeson started to Write and Direct screenplays for films and plays for the stage. In 2001 he gained his small screen debut in the mini-series 'Rebel Heart' - the story of Ireland moving towards independence following the Easter Uprising of 1916 through to Civil War in 1922. Next up he gained a part in the short film 'Six Shooter' which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. His feature length debut came in 2005 with a small part in teen zombie comedy horror 'Boys Eats Girl'. That same year he appeared in three episodes of the Irish television series 'The Last Furlong', with 'Studs' a year later in which Gleeson Jnr. starred for the first time with Gleeson Snr.

He then spent a couple of years treading the boards in a Charles Dickens adaptation of 'Great Expectations' at Dublin's 'The Gate Theatre', and 'American Buffalo' at the same playhouse that year. Gleeson also starred in the Broadway play 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore' for which he received a Tony Award nomination. In 2008 he starred with Jeff Bridges in television movie 'A Dog Year' and also 'Perrier's Bounty' - a Dublin set crime thriller starring Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Byrne and Jim Broadbent.

After comedy sketch show in which Gleeson played various roles over six episodes on 'Your Bad Self', there came 'Never Let Me Go' written for the screen by Alex Garland, Directed by Mark Romanek, and starring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Charlotte Rampling.  Whilst the film failed to recover its budget outlay, it was hailed a critical success. That same year came the chance to work with the Coen Brothers on 'True Grit' with Jeff Bridges once again and Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, J.K.Simmons, Barry Pepper and the young Haileee Steinfeld. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, eight BAFTA's and two SAG Awards. Also in 2010, was 'Sensation' and his first outing as Bill Weasley in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1' with 'Pt. 2' following up a year later.

Sci-Fi actioner 'Dredd' followed in 2012 with Karl Urban in the title role as the judge, jury and executioner based on the comic book 'Judge Dredd'. This was followed up by polar opposite 'Anna Karenina' as Directed by Joe Wright with Jude Law, Keira Knightly once again, Alicia Vikander and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The film won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Costume Design and a further 27 wins and 52 other nominations. 'Shadow Dancer' was up next with James Marsh at the helm and starring Clive Owen, Gillian Anderson and Andrea Riseborough in this early 90's Belfast set drama.

The Romantic dramedy 'About Time' followed in 2013 as Directed by Richard Curtis with Bill Nighy, Rachael McAdams and Margot Robbie. It made US$87M off its US$12M budget.

In 2014 there was 'Frank' with Michael Fassbender, Scoot McNairy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, then 'Calvary' with Brendan Gleeson again, Chris O'Dowd, Dylan Moran, Aidan Gillan and Kelly Reilly. War time survival story 'Unbroken' for Director/Producer Angelina Jolie followed starring Jack O'Connell, Jai Courtney and Garret Hedlund. The film was a critical and commercial success bringing in US$163M and picking up thirteen award wins and 27 other nominations from around the circuit.

2015 saw 'Ex-Machina' for Director Alex Garland with Alicia Vikander again and Oscar Isaac, with 'Brooklyn' and Saoirse Ronan, Jim Broadbent once more and Julie Walters.  Next up came the much hyped and eagerly awaited 'Star Wars : The Force Awakens' in which Gleeson starred as General Hux - the ruthless First Order Starkiller Base Commander - hugely successful that really needs nothing else said about it! And then there was this years 'The Revenant' with Leonard DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter for Director Alejandro G. Inarritu - also hugely successful more critically than commercially but still bringing in a very tidy US$527M in Box Office receipts so far before even hitting the home entertainment market which it does from later this month.


Next up for Gleeson is 'Crash Pad' due later this year with Christina Applegate and Thomas Haden Church, 'Mena' in post-production for 2017 with Tom Cruise and Jesse Plemmons as Directed by Doug Liman, 'A Futile and Stupid Gesture' with Seth Green and Will Forte currently filming and 'Star Wars : Episode VIII' also filming.







All up Gleeson has 35 acting credits, five award wins and another nine nominations. In 2015 every film he appeared in received multiple Academy Award nominations, and he has appeared in three films nominated for Best Picture - 'True Grit', 'Brooklyn' and 'The Revenant'.  With his father and brother Brian he co-founded the 'Immaturity for Charity' sketches which the three star in to raise funds for St. Francis Hospice in Dublin.

Domhnall Gleeson - like father like son; Director and Writer of several short films; you could say almost Irish royalty; and clearly increasingly sought after with an impressive recent track record and more great stuff in the pipeline - Happy 33rd Birthday Domhnall from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'TRUE GRIT' - archive from 6th February 2011.

I saw the remake of  'TRUE GRIT' in the week - the reworking of the 1969 classic that nabbed John Wayne his only Oscar for his depiction of U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. That film also starred Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper and was based on the book of the same name released the year before by Charles Portis. That film back in 1969 brought in a global Box Office haul of US$31M and now in 2011 the production budget for this one was US$38M - that's inflation for you!!



Here we have Joel & Ethan Coen Directing Jeff Bridges, taking on the lead role and is convincing as Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn the grizzled, boozing, trigger happy and allegedly meanest, U.S. Marshall. Looking to hire a man with 'true grit' he is engaged by young teenager Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) whose father has been murdered and she is seeking justice for the killer to be hanged back in Arkansas. That killer is Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Meanwhile Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) has ridden into town on the hunt for the same killer who is also wanted for the murder of a Texas State Senator.

After some reluctance the three hook up together on the trail of the Pepper Gang led by 'Lucky' Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper) whom Chaney is travelling with. There are disputes along the way that sees LaBoeuf leave but he remains on the trail wanting his Reward naturally. As the three split and then their paths cross again several times intertwined with Chaney and Ned Pepper incurring various casualties along the way as they navigate through Choctaw country where their quarry is in hiding, and where the story mostly plays out.

Chaney gets his comeuppance at the hands of young Mattie, after which she is bitten on the hand by a rattlesnake. Coming to the rescue Cogburn rides through the day & night to get Mattie to a doctor, but not before her horse carrying them both, collapses from exhaustion. On foot Cogburn then carries Mattie to safety and a doctor.

We then fast track twenty five years to the turn of the 20th Century, and we learn through Mattie's narrative that her arm was amputated years earlier as a result of that snake bite. She had not seen Cogburn since he left her safe to be treated by a doctor all those years ago. She tracks him down to a Wild West Show that Cogburn stars in, and arrives but learns that he passed away only days earlier. She never saw LaBoeuf either, but would have liked to.

'True Grit' was nominated for ten Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards winning Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins and all up 49 wins and another 142 nominations. The Coens have done it again, with a Box Office take of US$252M - rent it now on DVD or BluRay or download it and watch this gem of a Western in the comfort of your own home.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 8th - 14th February 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Josh Brolin does, on 12th February - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 47, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 8th February

• Mary Steenbergen - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actress | Producer
• Seth Green - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Nick Nolte - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• John Williams - Born 1932, turns 83 - Composer | Songwriter

Monday 9th February

• Tom Hiddleston - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor
• Joe Pesci - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor
• Ciaran Hinds - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor
• Mia Farrow - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actress

Tuesday 10th February

• Chloe Grace Moretz - Born 1997, turns 18 - Actress
• Elizabeth Banks - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Laura Dern - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Robert Wagner  -Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Apted - Born 1941, turns 74 - Director | Producer

Wednesday 11th February

• Taylor Lautner - Born1992, turns 23 - Actor
• Damian Lewis  -Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Burt Reynolds - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Jennifer Aniston - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress | Producer

Thursday 12th February

• Annette Crosbie - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress
• Christina Ricci - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actress | Producer
• Sigfrid Thornton - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress
• Josh Brolin - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Darren Aronofsky - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Michael Ironside - Born 1950, turn s65 - Actor | Producer
• Joe Don Baker - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor

Friday 13th February

• Neal McDonough - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Henry Rollins - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• George Segal - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actor
• Stockard Channing - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress
• Kim Novak - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actress
• Mena Suvari - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress

Saturday 14th February

• Simon Pegg - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer

Josh James Brolin was born in Santa Monica, California - the son of Jane Cameron Agee a wildlife activist and James Brolin, the Actor. He was raised on a ranch and had little exposure, growing up, to the world of his fathers acting career. At 16 his parents divorced, and his father then remarried in 1986 to Jane Smithers - a film and television actress, but that partnership came to an end in 1995. In 1998 he married again for the third time to singer/songwriter/actress Barbara Streisand and they remain married to this day.

The young Brolin was never that interested in acting as a career having seen the impact of it on his family life and his parents divorce. In fact he had early thoughts on becoming a Chef, but at high school he took an acting class, and liked it so much that the notion took hold. His first screen role came in the Richard Donner Directed and Steven Spielberg Produced 'The Goonies' in 1985, and then a year later in 'Thrashin'' - a story of rival skateboard gangs. From here various television series and made for TV movies followed including 'Private Eye', 'The Young Riders', 'Winnetka Road' and he was closely considered for the role of Officer Tom Hanson in the TV series hit '21 Jump Street' which eventually went to a young Johnny Depp.

By now it was the mid-90's and a series of average films followed - 'The Road Killers' in 1994, 'Bed of Roses', 'Flirting with Disaster' and 'Gang in Blue' all in 1996, and in 1997 'My Brothers War', 'Nightwatch' and 'Mimic'. The decade closed out with 'The Mod Squad', 'Best Laid Plans' and 'All the Rage'. None of his films up to this point had met with any significant critical acclaim and the first half of the new decade brought mediocre offerings too with the likes of 'Hollow Man' with Kevin Bacon, 'Slow Burn' with Minnie Driver to whom he would later become engaged to for a brief period of just six months, 'Melinda and Melinda', 'Into the Blue' and 'Dead Girl' with Toni Collette.

2007 however, brought a change of acting fortune with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez casting Brolin in their twin tribute to Grindhouse Cinema with his role in 'Planet Terror'. That same year came his lead role in the Coen Brothers 'No Country for Old Men' which met with huge critical acclaim, won four Academy Awards and a swathe of others. Paul Haggis cast him next with Tommy Lee Jones in 'In the Valley of Elah' and then came the acclaimed Ridley Scott offering 'American Gangster' with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

With his acting fortunes very much on the rise he was cast by Oliver Stone to star in 'W' as President George W. Bush in this bio-pic chronicle of his life and time in office. Gus Van Sant chose him next for the role of Dan White alongside Sean Penn in 'Milk' which garnered Brolin an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. 

After this came his lead role as the scarred anti-hero comic book character 'Johan Hex' in the film of the same name. Costing US$47M to make it tanked at the Box Office making just US$11M. He was cast again by Oliver Stone in 2010 to star with Michael Douglas and Shia LaBoeuf in the 'Wall Street' follow-up 'Money Never Sleeps', and that same year by the Coen's again in the much lauded 'True Grit' remake with Jeff Bridges. 

This led to 'MIB3' again retiming with Tommy Lee Jones, 'The Gangster Squad' again with Sean Penn, 'Labour Day' with Kate Winslett, in Spike Lee's Hollywood remake of vengeance film 'Oldboy' and the 'Sin City' sequel last year for Robert Rodriguez taking on the role of Dwight from Clive Owen in 'A Dame to Kill For'. 

Out imminently is 'Inherent Vice' Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix which has two Oscar nods and a raft of award wins already under its belt. Next up in adventure drama 'Everest' with an all star cast due later in 2015, then crime drama 'Sicario' with Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, and 'Hail, Caesar' in 2016 with Channing Tatum, George Clonney and a host of other A-list talent.

Brolin has 57 acting credits to his name, four Producer credits and one Director credit for his 2008 short film 'X'. He was nominated in 2009 for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor in 'Milk' and has a total 15 award wins and 29 nominations. He was married to Actress Alice Adair from 1988 to 1994 with whom he has two children - Trevor born in 1988 and Eden born in 1994. He remarried, to Actress Diane Lane in 2004 and they divorced in late 2013. He is an active stock trader and in fact has made a lot of money day trading from home using his own purpose built trading floor. He is also an avid car racer and surfer.

Josh Brolin - often plays the upstanding law enforcing tough guy, or the violent anti-hero, but always playing it with conviction and realism. A diverse range of films from a Actor who has been in and around the movie business all his life, and whose talents have only really come to the fore in the last seven or eight years . . . and there is still so much more to come! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthdays to share this week : 5th - 11th October.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Matt Damon does, on 8th October  - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer or Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 5th October

• Kate Winslet - Born 1975, turns 39 - Actress
• Karen Allen - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actress
• Guy Pearce - Born 1967, turns 47 - Actor
• Jesse Eisenberg - Born 1983, turns 31 - Actor

Monday 6th October

• Ioan Gruffudd - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actor
• Elisabeth Shue - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actress
• Britt Ekland - Born 1942, turns 72 - Actress

Tuesday 7th October

• Shawn Ashmore - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer
• Aaron Ashmore - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer

Wednesday 8th October

• Matt Damon - Born 1970, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Sigourney Weaver - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actress
• Chevy Chase - Born 1943, turns 71 - Actor | Writer
• Paul Hogan - Born 1939, turns 75 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Edward Zwick - Born 1952, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Writer

Thursday 9th October

• Guillermo del Toro - Born 1964, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Chris O'Dowd - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Steve McQueen - Born 1969, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Scott Bakula - Born 1954, turns 60 - Actor | Producer
• Tony Shaloub - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Brian Blessed - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actor
• Pete Docter - Born 1968, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Actor

Friday 10th October

• Charles Dance - Born 1946, turns 68 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Martin Kemp - Born 1961, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director

Saturday 11th October

• Sean Patrick Flanery - Born 1965, turns 49 - Actor
• Joan Cusack - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actress
• David Morse - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• John Nettles - Born 1943, turns 71 - Actor
• Dawn French - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actress | Writer | Producer

Matthew Paige Damon was born in Boston, Massachusetts to father Kent Damon and mother Nancy Carisson-Paige. He has an older brother, Kyle, an accomplished sculptor and artist. His parents divorced when he was two years of age and in his early years lived with his mother in a six family communal house in Cambridge. He attended Cambridge Alternative School and then Cambridge Rindge and Latin School where he starred in several school theatre productions, but was usually outshone by good friend and fellow schoolmate, Ben Affleck.

From 1988 to 1992 he attended Harvard University where he also starred in several theatre productions. He chose to leave however, just 12 credits shy of attaining his Bachelor of Arts Degree in English to star in 1992's 'Geronimo : An American Legend' expecting to hit the big time! His feature film debut though came in 1988 with a single line of dialogue in 'Mystic Pizza', and whilst still studying at Harvard he starred also in 'School Ties'. 1996 bought him a role alongside Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan in 'Courage Under Fire' for which he lost 40lbs (18kgs) in just 100 days for the character of a drug addled soldier - his body took 18 months to recover from the physical stress he inflicted upon himself in such a short space of time!

After some critical acclaim with 'Courage Under Fire' came 'Good Will Hunting' - a screenplay he had written with good friend Ben Affleck, and which was originally penned for an English class whilst at Harvard. The film, starring Robin Williams, garnered nine Academy Award nominations and netted the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Damon and Affleck - putting the two on the map well & truly.

As the 90's drew to a close he starred in notable films with top Actors and Directors including Steven Spielberg on 'Saving Private Ryan' with Tom Hanks; 'Rounders' with Edward Norton and John Malkovich; 'Dogma' with Ben Affleck; and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' with Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

As 2000 clicked over Damon made some very astute career choices with starring roles in two major film franchises - Steven Soderbergh's 2001 'Oceans Eleven' which spawned two successful sequels with co-stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia et al, and then 2002's 'Bourne Identity' and its two hugely successful sequels 'The Bourne Supremacy' and 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.

He went on to work with Soderbergh again on 'The Informant' and 'Behind the Candleabra' starring Michael Douglas as Liberace. He starred too in Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed' with Jack Nicholson; with Clint Eastwood Directing him in 'Invictus' with Morgan Freeman and again in 'Hereafter'; with the Coen brothers in the remake of the John Wayne classic 'True Grit'; and with Gus Van Sant who Directed him in 'Good Will Hunting' on 'Promised Land'.

Outside of acting in front of the camera, he has his own Production Company - 'Pearl Street Films' set up in 2010 with Ben Affleck, and he established 'Project Greenlight' to find and fund film projects from novice moviemakers. 'Project Greenlight' was nominated in 2002, 2004 and 2005 for Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality Programme.






Damon is a devout Humantarian with a long list of charitable, humanitarian and worthwhile causes linked to his name. These include the 'H2O Africa Foundation' which he founded to bring fresh drinkable water to remote and dry Africa; his is a co-founder of 'Not On Our Watch Project' focusing attention to halt mass atrocities such as Darfur. He supports the 'ONE Campaign' fighting AIDS and third world poverty; is an Ambassador for the 'OneXOne Foundation' in support of improving the lives of disadvantaged children; is a spokesperson for 'Feeding America' and sits on the Board of 'Tonic Mailstopper' - a campaign to halt the junk mail delivered to American homes every day and the resultant costs of our trees and environment.

He has 68 film credits to his name including those not already mentioned 'Chasing Amy', 'The Rainmaker', 'The Legend of Bagger Vance', 'Finding Forrester', 'Stuck On You', 'The Brothers Grimm', 'Syriana', 'The Good Shepherd', 'The Adjustment Bureau', 'We Bought a Zoo', 'Elysium' and earlier this year 'The Zero Theorem' and 'The Monuments Men'. Next up he has an uncredited role in Chris Nolan's highly anticipated 'Interstellar', 'The Martian' due for release in 2015, and Bourne 5 (muted as 'The Bourne Betrayal') with Jeremy Renner sharing screen time in mid-2016 recently announced. He was paid US$600K for his screenplay for 'Good Will Hunting' which took US$226M at the global Box Office; he earned US$600K for 1998's 'Rounders' and US$20M for 2007's 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.

He has 34 award wins and 82 other nominations including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with Ben Affleck for 'Good Will Hunting', and was nominated for Best Lead Actor for that same film. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 'Invictus'. He won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for 'Good Will Hunting' and collected five other nominations; and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 'Behind the Candelabra'. He has starred in four films nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Academy Awards - 'Good Will Hunting', 'Saving Private Ryan', 'The Departed' and 'True Grit'.

He dated Minnie Driver and Winona Ryder in the past and married Luciana Barroso in 2005 with whom he has three daughters - Isabella Zavala, Gia Zavala and Stella Zavala born in 2006, 2008 and 2010 respectively.

Matt Damon - diverse and far ranging acting talent; in demand for the critical and box office returns generated; humanitarian and supporter of good causes; influential, and mates with the Hollywood 'A'-list, and placed in the Top 40 movies actors of all time - Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-