Damon and Ben Affleck co-wrote Good Will Hunting (1997), a screenplay about a young math genius,[1] which received nine Academy Awards nominations, earning Damon and Affleck Oscars[2][3] and Golden Globes for Best Screenplay.

For his performance as Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood's sports drama Invictus he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination.

For his role as the botanist and mechanical engineer Mark Watney in Ridley Scott's science fiction film The Martian (2015) he received his second Academy Award for Best Actor nomination.

In 2017 he received the Academy Award for Best Picture nomination for the Kenneth Lonergan drama Manchester by the Sea (2016).

[60] MIT President L. Rafael Reif noted that in The Martian, Damon's character Mark Watney declares himself a "space pirate":[61] in parodic honor, Reif presented Damon with an honorary pirate's diploma, which is bestowed to select MIT students on completion of certain Physical Education requirements.