Matt Damon has revealed that his wife, Luciana Barroso, underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm the week before the 2024 Oscars. The medical episode happened during the awards-season run for Oppenheimer, turning what might have been a celebratory period into a frightening one for their family.
The actor, 56, discussed the experience with Frazier Tharpe in a GQ interview published November 5. “She’s totally fine, thank God,” he said of his wife’s condition now.
The couple missed the ceremony on March 10, 2024. Christopher Nolan’s film won seven prizes that evening, including best picture and best director, according to the Academy‘s records.
Damon and Barroso have been married since 2005. They share daughters Isabella, Gia and Stella, and he is also stepfather to her eldest daughter, Alexia, from an earlier relationship.
Luciana Surprised Damon With Plans for the Vanity Fair Party
That evening was the first time Barroso felt she had enough energy to get up and go out, Damon recalled. She surprised him by getting a dress and announcing, “This time we’re going out.” He called the gesture “pretty fucking heroic” and said it meant a great deal to him.
They attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Photographs published by TheWrap at the time show them posing together on the red carpet, with Damon in a black tuxedo and bow tie and Barroso in a black lace gown.
Nolan and his wife and producing partner, Emma Thomas, also attended the celebration. Vanity Fair‘s account of the evening described the director arriving shortly after 10 p.m., carrying two Oscar statuettes. The magazine also recorded Damon stopping to chat with Justin Theroux inside.
Barroso Remembered His Regret Over Missing The Departed’s Oscar Wins
Barroso’s determination came from something she remembered about the 2007 Academy Awards. Damon was filming second-unit scenes for The Bourne Ultimatum, living in Miami and caring for an infant with his wife. He decided not to travel to Los Angeles, and they watched the broadcast from bed.
He had been nervous for Martin Scorsese and jumped up and down when the director won for The Departed. It was Scorsese’s first Oscar after seven previous nominations, five of them for directing.
Then the film won best picture. Damon realized he had missed the chance to celebrate with his colleagues, and calls from cast members and the studio asking where he had been continued in the following weeks. “I totally blew it,” he told the magazine.
The Odyssey Kept Damon Away Longer Than His Family’s Usual Limit
Damon also described the support his family gave him while he filmed Nolan’s The Odyssey. They ordinarily follow a two-week limit on time apart for work, but he recalled an early stretch of the production keeping him away for three and a half weeks.
The first half of filming was particularly difficult because the children were still in school. They were fans of Nolan’s work and understood why their father wanted the role, although Damon acknowledged that accepting it required a sacrifice from them. Once summer arrived, they could join him on set.
He told GQ he was nearing the end of another project with directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. After that film, he plans to take an extended break from acting.