Matt Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the drama film Good Will Hunting (1997) from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend and actor Ben Affleck. The pair won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for their work. For his performance in the film, Damon received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.
Damon has since starred in commercially successful films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), the Ocean’s trilogy, and the first three films in the Bourne series, while also gaining critical acclaim for his performances in dramas such as Syriana (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), and The Departed (2006). He garnered a Golden Globe nomination for portraying the title character in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Francois Pienaar in Invictus (2009).
He is one of the top-40 highest-grossing actors of all time. In 2007, Damon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine. Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, and Water.org.
Randall Darius “Randy” Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, entrepreneur and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. Jackson has won a Grammy Award as a producer.
Jackson played in bands with Carlos Santana and Jerry Garcia. In the early 1980s he played on three albums for Jean-Luc Ponty and with the rock band Taxxi. From 1986 to 1987 he was a session musician for the rock group Journey. Jackson played on Journey’s 1986 album Raised on Radio. He moved to Italy in the late 1980s and played on a record by Italian pop star Zucchero. The record, Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band, was produced by Corrado Rustici who played guitar with Jackson on many albums in the early 1980s. He also played with Billy Cobham.
Starting back in 2002, Jackson is one of the panel judges on the Fox Network reality television series American Idol, along with Paula Abdul , Simon Cowell), Kara DioGuardi, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. As a result of Cowell’s departure, Jackson is left as the sole original judge on American Idol. His role was originally going to be reduced to that of a mentor, so the 2013 season will have all new judges, but it was later decided that he will remain as a judge for season 12.
