Matt Damon Says Wife Had Brain Aneurysm Before Oscars

Damon said his wife, Luciana Barroso, experienced a brain aneurysm in 2024 and underwent surgery in the week before the Academy Awards. He had been prepared to stay home with her, but she felt well enough to go out on the night of the ceremony and encouraged him to attend an after-party for Oppenheimer, his film that year.

The actor recalled that Barroso had dressed for the occasion and reminded him that he had missed celebrations when The Departed won awards in 2007. Damon described her decision to join him so soon after surgery as “pretty f**king heroic” and said it meant a great deal to him. He said she is now fine.

Damon and Barroso married in 2005 and have three daughters together; Barroso also has a daughter from a previous relationship. Damon also discussed how filming Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey took him away from home for three and a half weeks, exceeding the couple’s usual two-week limit on time apart. He said his family supported the commitment, and that he planned to take an extended break after completing upcoming work.