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Matt Damon has been married to Luciana Barroso since 2005. The couple has managed to make their relationship work, despite that Damon was in Hollywood’s bright limelight for years. Still, the two have a true secret to keeping their love alive — and it has nothing to do with the spotlight. 

Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso | Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage

Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso met at a bar

Damon and Barroso’s love story isn’t a tale of two Hollywood stars meeting and falling in love. Rather, it’s a tale of one Hollywood star being dragged to a bar with his friends and somehow falling for the bartender while hiding from fans. Their first encounter was in 2003; Damon was in Miami shooting his film “Stuck On You” when his co-stars wanted to go to a bar. Though he wasn’t interested, he went anyway — and that’s where Barroso caught his eye.

Barroso was working behind the bar, and Damon pretended to go behind the bar and hide from fans as a way of talking to her. In one of Barroso’s only public interviews, she told Vogue Australia that she put Damon to work making drinks. “He made me a ton of money in tips that night, because of course everyone wanted to go and see him,” Barroso said. “So it turned into a really fun night, and then 15 years later here we are!”

Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso | Chris Polk/FilmMagic

Barroso remains almost entirely out of the spotlight — and that’s what works for them

Damon and Barroso tied the knot in 2005, and they’ve been going strong ever since. The biggest reason for the couple’s strong relationship is keeping their marriage as private as possible. Neither Damon nor Barroso has a public Instagram, and a lack of social media certainly helps keep trolls away.

Barroso has hardly done any public interviews during her marriage. She did speak with Vogue Australia back in 2018, but beyond that, she’s remained out of the spotlight entirely. It’s allowed her and Damon to retain a more normal life for themselves and their kids.

Damon also had no issue with Barroso’s non-A-list status. Barroso was a single mom with a four-year-old daughter when they met, but Damon didn’t care; he fell for her instantly.

“When you meet somebody that you have a connection with, that’s just the person that you have a connection with, all the other stuff— the movie-star part—wasn’t really a factor,” Barroso told Vogue. “It was just Matt.”

Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso in 2004
Matt Damon and Luciana Barroso in 2004 | Dave Benett/Getty Images
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The two value family over success

Damon instantly took Barroso’s daughter in as his own, and today, he’s a proud step-father to her as well as three other daughters that he went on to have with Barroso. The two have put their daughters’ well-being above anything else — especially the Hollywood limelight. Though the daughters have made rare appearances with their parents, the girls have been raised almost entirely outside of the spotlight.

Though not much is known about Damon and Barroso’s marriage (in a good way), they’ve become one of Hollywood’s most-adored couples.