Matt Damon was in a movie.
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951 . Matt Damon . He came to prominence in 1997 when he wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting alongside Ben Affleck , which won them the Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Screenplay , and earned Damon a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor . He continued to garner praise from critics for his roles as the eponymous character in Saving Private Ryan ( 1998 ) , the antihero in The Talented Mr. Ripley ( 1999 ) , a fallen angel in Dogma ( 1999 ) , an energy analyst in Syriana ( 2005 ) , and a corrupt Irish-American police officer in The Departed ( 2006 ) . Damon has received Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of Scott Thorson in the biopic Behind the Candelabra ( 2013 ) and for producing the reality series Project Greenlight .