Kevin Costner confirmed that he remembers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck working as extras on the set of the 1989 baseball drama Field of Dreams, despite Ben Affleck later expressing skepticism about the memory. The two future Oscar winners appeared as teenage spectators in the Fenway Park crowd decades before achieving global stardom.
Kevin Costner Remembers Teenage Extras on Set
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, actor Kevin Costner recalled spotting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck among the background actors during the production of Field of Dreams. Costner described how the two friends stood out on the stadium bleachers. “I remember them,” the actor said on the program. “They sat in the stands like college students, […] they both leaned back at the same time and looked at each other while we were talking. And they had this great enthusiasm. They were on fire. I remember them, absolutely!”
Matt Damon Recalls Idolizing the Star Between Takes
Jimmy Kimmel also shared a text message from Matt Damon during the broadcast, offering the co-star’s perspective on the 1989 shoot. “I remember it well,” Damon’s message read. “I had a poster of The Untouchables hanging on my wall. Between takes, he [Costner] always hung out with the extras. […] That was very important to us, because he had exactly the career that we had wanted. He was very nice to us.” At the time of filming, Damon was approximately 17 years old and Affleck was around 15, both sharing ambitions of breaking into the film industry.
Ben Affleck Questions the Reality of the Memory
While Costner retains a vivid recollection of the young aspiring actors, Ben Affleck has previously voiced doubts about whether the star genuinely remembers their brief stint as background performers.
Path from Fenway Park Bleachers to the Academy Awards
The uncredited background appearance preceded the duo’s major breakthrough by less than a decade. Only eight years after hiding in plain sight among the Fenway Park spectators, Damon and Affleck walked the stage at the Academy Awards to accept the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting in 1998. Affleck later worked directly with Field of Dreams director Phil Alden Robinson on the 2002 Jack Ryan thriller The Sum of All Fears, greeting the filmmaker by noting he was glad to work with him again.
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