Matt Damon's first memory came to him in a dream. When speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on April 1, Matt opened up about a dream that he had after his dad, Kent Damon, died in 2017. That same year, he had a "crazy dream."
On the show, Stephen asked Matt about his first memory during “The Colbert Questionert." At first, Matt said that he has memories of his crib — but then he detailed the dream that he had, which provided some more insight.
“After my father passed away in 2017, within that year, I had this crazy dream,” he recalled.
He explained how his dream changed his perception of his first memory.
Speaking of his dad, Kent, he said, "He came to me in a dream and he embraced me. And the feeling that I got was the feeling that I had — which I think is like my first memory — which was the feeling of what it felt like to be held by him.”
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The feelings Matt experienced were hard for him to explain.
“It was a feeling of such overwhelming protection and love and it was preverbal, so I can’t even explain what it felt like,” Matt continued.
Though the feeling was hard to describe, he knew that he could feel his dad's presence.
"All I knew was that he was there and that I was feeling that embrace," he explained.
"It reminded me that I must have felt that as one of the very first things that I was aware of as my consciousness came online," Matt continued.
Kent Damon died at age 74 after a long battle with cancer. Complications from multiple myeloma, an uncommon blood cancer, contributed to his death.
On March 20, 2023, Matt got a tattoo in honor of his dad. Celebrity tattoo artist Daniel Winter posted about the tattoo on Instagram and explained the meaning behind it.
"The tattoo has great meaning!" Daniel wrote on Instagram at the time. "For his late father. We tattooed NOMAD which was his fathers boat and also says DAMON backwards!"
Matt first revealed that his dad was battling multiple myeloma in 2011. At a benefit at Massachusetts General Hospital, he said, "We’ve lost some close personal friends to cancer in recent years, but I never thought it would happen to my dad, the marathon runner."