Although born in Berkeley, California on August 15, 1972, Ben Affleck spent most of his childhood growing up in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1980, he met Matt Damon, a boy two years his senior who lived in the same neighborhood. That same year, Affleck had his first acting role, starring in the PBS science series The Voyage of the Mimi (1980). After briefly attending the University of Vermont and California's Occidental College, Affleck abandoned higher education and joined Damon in Hollywood to pursue their acting careers. His first screen appearance was a small role along side Damon in the coming-of-age drama School Ties (1992). Roles in Dazed and Confused (1993), Last Call (1995) and Kevin Smith's Mallrats (1995) and Chasing Amy (1997) soon followed. Fed up with the lack of quality roles available, Affleck and Damon decided to write and star in their own original screenplay. Affleck's younger brother Casey introduced the pair to director Gus Van Sant who helped convince Miramax to produce their project. In 1997, Good Will Hunting hit the big screen. It was the story of a teenage math prodigy living a blue-collar life in a working class neighborhood of South Boston. The film earned the pair Oscars for Best Original Screenplay but more importantly, made the 6'2“ Affleck one of Hollywood's Golden Boys and launched his career as a film superstar. Since then, he has starred in the Oscar winning Shakespeare in Love (1998), the box office smash Armageddon (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Dogma (1999), Boiler Room (2000), and Reindeer Games (2000). Recently, he starred with former girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow in Bounce (2000) and in the blockbuster Pearl Harbor (2001). Affleck owns 5 motorcycles, is an avid collector of vintage video-arcade machines and has twice been named to People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World lists.