What ‘messed me up’ for years — and how Ben Affleck saved me

Matt Damon says he wouldn’t have been able to survive in Hollywood without best friend Ben Affleck by his side.

The “Bourne Identity” actor, 52, told People on Wednesday that Affleck kept him grounded as fame started to “mess” with his head in the early days of his career.

“It’s been really helpful to check in with Ben throughout this whole surreal process over the last 25 years,” Damon declared.

“I think the shock of becoming famous is so… I mean, that messed me up for a couple years,” he added.

Affleck, 50, and Damon met back in Cambridge, Massachusetts when they were young kids and bonded over a love of baseball and film.

The duo started out in Hollywood together after they graduated from high school and appeared in “School Ties” together in 1992.

They were catapulted onto the A-List after they wrote and starred in the 1997’s Oscar-winning smash, “Good Will Hunting.”

During his interview on Wednesday, Damon explained how fame affected him after he became an A-list star.

“The whole world just starts to treat you differently,” he recalled. “So your subjective experience changes. It’s like somebody rewrites your code in the Matrix, but just your code.”

Damon stated that the film biz cam still be “overwhelming,” even after three decades in the spotlight.

However, he says Affleck has been “helpful” and “stabilizing” force for him.

He described his friendship with the star as “everything.”

Meanwhile, Damon and Affleck recently revealed that they even used to share a bank account back in the 1980s when they were both struggling to make it in Hollywood.

They pair made the revelation on “The Bill Simons Podcast” last month saying they used shared cash to attend auditions and pay bills.

“We were going to help each other and be there for each other,” Affleck said. “It was like, ‘You’re not going to be alone. I’m not going to be alone. Let’s go out there and do this together.’”

The pair have now reunited on-screen for the Nike biopic, “Air,” which Affleck also directed.

The biographical sports drama revolves around the sneaker brand’s executive Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) as he goes on a quest to secure a footwear deal with basketball icon Michael Jordan.