Matt Damon is advocating for clean water and plumbing throughout the world as part of the charity he co-founded, Water.org. He appeared in a video for CNN (shown above) to show how difficult it is for people in rural northern Ethiopia to collect water for themselves and their families. People, including schoolchildren, walk hours and carry heavy jugs in order to get dirty water from a hand dug well. The risk of water-borne diseases, like dysentery and cholera, from the visibly muddy water is high. Water.org strives to bring awareness to the need for clean, potable water throughout the world as well as build safe community wells and toilets. They built a well in Adenifas, Ethiopia, and you can see the building site and celebration in the first video below. (It’s a longer version of the CNN video and the well-building starts at about 3:00 minutes in.)

Damon is expecting his fourth child with wife Luciana, which will be his third biological child. (He also has a step daughter from Luciana’s first marriage.) He’s credited Luciana with holding their family together around his varied work schedule and said that they’re now preparing for their next little tornado.” The couple was spotted at John Krasinski and Emily Blunt’s wedding at George Clooney’s estate in Italy last month and were later seen on a family vacation in Hawaii. Damon is certainly keeping busy this summer.

I’m a sucker for anything Damon does and it works out particularly well when he makes great movies and advocates for such worthy causes.

Update: This post has been up for like an hour and has one comment. I just wanted to note that the only reason I know about this video is because I get Water.org’s newsletter. It’s not like the charity is issuing press releases to the celebrity news outlets, although maybe they should be. Also, I just read this really good article on Pajiba reviewing a new documentary the reveals how bottled water is a rip off that hurts communities and the environment. It’s only moderately related, but it’s worth considering when you realize the lengths that people in remote areas go though to get water.

Video: Water.org co-founders Gary White and Matt Damon project sites in Ethiopia. (longer version of CNN video above)

Video: About Water.org

Matt Damon once called marriage “a ridiculous thing to do,” but added that he liked being married to his wife Luciana. Five years of marriage and almost four kids later, Matt and Luciana are still going strong and he’s still singing her praises. Matt told a reporter at the Ante Up for Africa poker tournament over the weekend that Luciana helps manage the family around his work commitments and that “she really keeps it together.” Luciana is currently pregnant with their third child together, which will be her fourth.

If Matt Damon wants to find out anything about his wife’s pregnancy he just needs to ask their kids.

“They track its progress in mommy’s belly,” he said Saturday while attending the Ante Up for Africa charity poker event in Las Vegas.

His wife, Luciana, is set to deliver the couple’s fourth child this fall. They currently have three daughters: Alexia, 11, who is Luciana’s child from a previous marriage, Isabella, 4, and Gia, 22 months.

The kids “are very excited” about another addition to the family, Damon, 39, said.

But being a family man and major motion picture star isn’t easy for the former Sexiest Man Alive. Damon credits “a great wife” for helping him juggle his responsibilities.

“She really keeps it together,” he said at the poker event at the Rio All Suites Hotel, hosted by Oceans 11 pal Don Cheadle. “We just talk it out and work it all out. You say, this is the job and this is the time commitment and this is where it will be. I’m a lot easier to hire if you’re doing movies in New York.”

[From People]

Luciana is a lucky bitch, but I’m sure she earns it by patiently putting up with more crap from Damon than we can imagine. Just because Damon is a dreamboat who manages his image expertly doesn’t mean that he’s an ideal husband. (That’s just what I tell myself to get through the days. I’ve seen the Bourne movies too many times.) Whatever goes on in their marriage, these two seem very much in love and must still be keeping things hot. They were spotted making out at a club just a couple of weeks ago. Oh sigh.

Here are some new photos of Damon at Ante Up For Africa. He lost weight! I never get tired of looking at this guy. Matt and Luciana are shown on 3/27/10. Credit: WENN.com

All you need to do to make a funny celebrity video is to include Matt Damon acting mad. The guy does mad the best that I’ve ever seen, (I was going to write “better than any other living actor,” but I know that many of you will disagree with me) and his buddy Jimmy Kimmel knows this and capitalizes on it whenever Matt is game, which is surprisingly often. We’ve seen Matt freak out and swear at Kimmel for supposedly bumping him from his show, fight Jimmy’s sidekick Guillermo, and star in other cute segments like “Handsome Men’s Club,” “F’cking Matt Damon” and “F’cking Ben Affleck” (There’s also a non-Kimmel but staged video of Damon freaking out and swearing at Adrien Grenier for allegedly messing up a scene.) Even when Damon is acting campy in a bit he’s superb and doesn’t overplay it. I just love him so much.

Anyway Damon stars in a new Funny or Die video for 1Goal, an education charity founded by Queen Rania of Jordan in conjunction with the World Cup. He plays agitated and out of control to Jessica Alba’s woefully inadequate straight man. The video cuts away to a cute segment with John Legend complaining that no one brought him a piano and both Shakira and Queen Rania discussing 1Goal.

Damon has gained some weight and is sporting longer hair. His wife is pregnant with their third child together, which would explain Damon’s sympathetic daddy weight gain. Either that or it’s for a role. Damon is slated to play Liberace’s longterm lover in a new biopic starring Michael Douglas. Judging from pictures of the guy he’s playing, Scott Thorson, that could be why he gained weight and let his hair grow out. Damon is also reportedly in talks to play the lead in a new Cameron Crow movie based on the true story of a man who sunk his life savings into a zoo. He has no less than six films in development and several coming up that are in post production. Bourne might be over, but we’ll be getting our Damon fix for years to come.

This news is in Mike Walker’s column in the National Enquirer. Sometimes Walker runs suspicious celebrity hero stories, but he’s had some notable scoops about upcoming movies and did break the news about the new Wall St. sequel. He may have some good sources for industry information. Anyway Walker claims that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, my favorite BFFs since Good Will Hunting, will again star together on screen. They’re going to do a film based on the true story of two Yankees pitchers and best friends who “actually traded spouses, houses, kids and dogs.” Given that Matt and Ben are both married with two biological daughters at home (Matt also has an older adopted daughter) their lives closely parallel each other and would be a huge selling point for this film. I hope this is true and am really looking forward to it. As Walker mentions, this is also a big deal because Matt and Ben, both Boston natives, are Red Sox fans.

Looks like real-life best pals Ben Affleck and Matt Damon finally get their wish and reunite on screen for another buddy movie… The Boston-bred Red Sox fans will… don New York Yankee uniforms in “The Trade,” based on the shocking true tale of two Yankees pitchers who were best pals, fell in love with each other’s wives, and actually traded spouses, houses, kids and dogs… A source says Ben, who’ll direct, wanted to cast Wifey Jennifer Garner and asked: “How’d you like to be married to Matt, but have an affair with me?”… Jennifer’s response: “Me playing Matt’s wife, but sleeping with both of you? Eww… yuck! I don’t think so!”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column, May 10, 2010]

I went to Google “Yankee Pitchers” and one of the suggested searches was “Yankee Pitchers Swap Wives,” so I went ahead and googled that to come across the story of Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, two pitchers for the Yankees in early 70s. These guys were best friends each with families with kids and they actually swapped wives and lives when they found themselves falling for the other’s spouses. It didn’t work out so well, but I won’t recount it all here because it contains a lot of potential spoilers if this movie is actually going to happen. Here’s an article in Time Magazine from 1973 that explains how it all went down. Wikipedia also has some more details. Peterson just published a memoir last July called Mickey Mantle is going to Heaven and I would bet that either Matt or Ben read it and came up with the idea for this film. It’s a great concept and could be an incredible dramedy with these two Oscar winners on board.

Two weeks ago, Kaiser and I were e-mailing about Matt Damon’s wife Luciana and Kaiser thought she was pregnant. She wrote, “the last time I saw her was when Matt got the lifetime acheivement thing, I thought she looked pregnant in some photos.” I thought it was just Lucy’s dress, but it turned out Kaiser was right! Matt Damon’s wife is expecting her third child with the Oscar winning hunk. Matt and Lucy are parents to three daughters: Isabella, 3, Gia, 19 months, and Alexia, 11, from Lucy’s first marriage. US Weekly has the news, along with some nice earlier quotes from proud dad Matt about what fatherhood means to him:

Matt Damon and his wife Luciana are expecting another baby, his rep confirms to UsMagazine.com exclusively…

Damon — who quietly wed Luciana at NYC City Hall in December 2005 — has credited his kids with keeping him grounded in Hollywood.

“It’s pretty easy to kind of lose your way… having kids is really helpful,” he told Parade magazine. “They kind of disabuse you of the notion of your greatness pretty quickly. There’s a routine that you get into with kids that precludes you from going back to your single days. I’m probably more boring than I used to be. I go to bed earlier and I get up earlier.”

He said he hopes his daughters take after their mother. “My wife is a very wise and a very thoughtful person. Hopefully, they’ll inherit that,” Damon said.

Added the actor (who supports charities including One, which fights AIDS and poverty in third world countries): “From me, I hope they’ll inherit a sense of social justice and a desire to continue some of those programs that I’m involved with. Maybe not those exact ones, but hopefully, something to further social justice.”

[From US Weekly]

I wonder how far along Lucy is, as she didn’t look pregnant at all to me a month ago. It’s hard to tell with the dress she was wearing, though. One quote of Matt’s that US doesn’t mention is a funny reference he made last year to the fact that he’s the only male in a household of girls. He said “I live with women and girls so I don’t have control over anything.” Matt has that in common with his old friend Ben Affleck, and the National Enquirer ran a story last year that the two of them were suffering from “estrogen overload.” I bet Matt is hoping for a boy, but imagine he’ll be thrilled with another girl too. Congratulations to Matt and Lucy on their upcoming arrival!

Tina Fey’s zany NBC comedy “30 Rock” has become a destination spot for A-listers, including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Selma Hayek, Steve Martin and Jon Hamm. The latest Hollywood actor to join Tina, Alec and company, according to reports, will be Oscar-winner Matt Damon.

Spoiler Alert:

According to sources close to the show, the current plan is for Matt to be a love interest for Tina Fey!

That’s right, first Liz Lemon hooks up with Jon Hamm, then James Franco, then James Franco’s pillow and now this.

Though 30 Rock’s producers are still hammering out all the details, sources tell me NBC is hoping to get Matt on for multiple episodes. However, Matt is shooting another project this spring, so it all depends on Matt’s schedule and whether 30 Rock can be squeezed in. So at this point only one Damon-Lemon episode is guaranteed, but there may be more.

One thing is certain: Sarah Silverman is gonna be pissed.

[From Enterainment Weekly]

Damon might be best known for his tough guy role in the “Bourne Identity” films but he also has quite a knack for the comedic, as he showed in last year’s “The Informant!” and of course that Sarah Silverman video. I am looking forward to seeing what the writers at the show have cooked up for him. They did a nice job creating funny parts for Jennifer Aniston (as Alec Baldwin’s wacky love interest), and Steve Martin (a germaphobic millionaire with a thing for Tina Fey) so I hope they do the same for Damon.

Sidenote by Kaiser: Does anyone remember when Matt guested on Will & Grace? He was lovely on that show, and I’m really looking forward to this!

First of all, how hot does Matt Damon look? He shaved off that horrible mustache and you can see all of his lovely, boyish, “I’ll always look this young” face. Also, he seems to have settled into a nice weight where he doesn’t look all Jason Bourne-tight, but yet he still looks fit and healthy, and he’s growing out his hair, and it looks crazy sexy. Matt Damon is so yummy, damn. Anyway… these are photos of Matt and assorted Hollywood types who turned out on Saturday to salute Matt with the American Cinematheque “lifetime achievement” tribute. Matt Damon is 39 years old. Lifetime what? Granted, Matt’s a really talented actor who has already had a really outstanding career, but since when is 39 years old the “lifetime” point for an actor’s career? EW explains why Matt was being honored, and they included some of the funnier moments from the night:

For a guy known for being a serious actor, Matt Damon is pretty funny — or at least he seems to be when the room is filled with his longtime pals and colleagues, such as Ben Affleck, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Greg Kinnear, Casey Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Jimmy Kimmel, and Sarah Silverman.

On Saturday they all gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in L.A. to honor Damon for his film and philanthropic work. A taped version of the event, “Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon: An American Cinematheque Tribute,” will air in April on ABC.

So, a lifetime achievement award for an actor who hasn’t even turned 40? According to American Cinematheque, who’s been hosting similar events since 1986 to raise money for their cinemas and public programming operations (past recipients include Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Julia Roberts), it’s more of a “mid-career” award. But that didn’t stop Jimmy Kimmel from lampooning the proceedings in his opening monologue: “They must be running out of stars for awards. Who will we honor next year? Vanessa Hudgens?”

There was definitely a casual vibe at the black-tie affair. The audience (about 700 people, most of whom paid between $500 to $2,200 for a ticket) was light on celebrities, and heavy on industry types, fans, and members of American Cinematheque. Cell phone cameras were clicking constantly. Clint Eastwood, who was seated next to Charlize Theron and Sarah Silverman, got up and down from his chair so much to oblige the line of people wanting to snap a pic with the legend, he probably didn’t have time to finish his salad and salmon entrée.

Damon’s table (which included his parents, brother, and wife, along with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner) didn’t seem too interested in sitting and eating either, as they stood and chatted happily before the official proceedings. Damon and his wife, Luciana, held hands constantly, while Ben and Jen whispered into each other’s ear, with Garner giving Affleck man an affectionate stroke under the chin.

The official ceremony, which only lasted about an hour, consisted of short, scripted “roasts” of Damon and a slew of clips, from Damon’s first role, in 1988’s Mystic Pizza, to this year’s Green Zone. (The reel showed how little his boyish good looks and sandy highlighted hair have changed over the years.) There were so many Jimmy Kimmel moments (including the famous viral video with Sarah Silverman, and the more recent Handsome Men sketch) that at times it seemed more like an ep of Kimmel (and a serious cross-promotion for ABC).

Surprisingly the professional comedians, Robin Williams and Sarah Silverman, were the most subdued, while the laconic Eastwood (the only presenter who didn’t read from a teleprompter) delivered some of the funniest lines: “Matt Damon is one of the finest actors of our generation. I know that because when he came into my office for Invictus, he said, ‘Clint, I am one of the finest actors of my generation.’ In fact he couldn’t understand why I cast Morgan Freeman as Mandela, he felt he could handle it.”

Casey Affleck, who’s known Damon since he was 7, got the biggest laugh of the night from the room and Damon himself when he pulled up a slide of a so-called “vacation shot” of the two of them lying around naked, with a very small black bar hiding Damon’s privates and an extremely large one over Affleck’s. (It will be interesting to see if that makes it to the broadcast.)

Of course there were more serious moments. Charlize Theron (who starred with Damon in The Legend of Bagger Vance) paid tribute to the actor’s philanthropic work and introduced a taped message from President Bill Clinton, who thanked Damon for his efforts in Darfur and Haiti, and for his commitment to bringing clean water to those areas.

Another taped messages came from Ben Stiller, who has never worked with Damon and aptly prefaced his remarks by saying that this was the reason he couldn’t be bothered to actually show up. A misfired sketch featuring the absent George Clooney dressed in a hospital gown and pretending to be getting a proctology exam while addressing the room was about as excruciating as the actual procedure would be.

It was left, of course, to best pal Ben Affleck (who Jen Garner introduced as “my husband’s husband”) to actually present Damon with his award, noting dryly: “Wow! A lifetime achievement award? I started the same time as the guy — so it’s a special night for me too. I actually accepted an award recently as well from the Elks Lodge!”

In the end it really proved to be Damon’s night when he took the stage to receive the award and proceeded to dish out all that he gotten over the course of the night. In fact most of it was off the cuff, as he ignored the lines scrolling in front of him on the teleprompter. He thanked Affleck (who he referred to as his hetero lifemate) and assured him that. “Next year I’m sure you will be on this stage (presenting this award to someone else).”

He did perfect impressions of Clinton and Eastwood, saying his award paled in comparison to Eastwood’s lifetime achievement award from AARP. To Silverman, he said: “Well, it was over before it started — and in fact that’s what you told me about Jimmy.” He also wondered aloud why Ben Stiller was even invited to speak (“I guess you heard there was something being made in Hollywood that didn’t have you in it”) and called Clooney’s taped message “strange” (to say the least).

He finished his 12-minute response by thanking his family until he was yanked offstage by Kimmel and Guillermo of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, who said Damon had run out of time. So what’s next for the career achievement recipient? “I don’t know. I guess I go back to work and try and earn the award,” he told EW.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Aw, it sounds like a nice night. I guess the American Cinematheque tried to keep the focus on the “tribute” aspect rather than the “lifetime” aspect. Which is fine, I guess. If someone wants to just to a tribute to Matt’s work thus far, they chose a good actor for it. He works so much! He’s done no fewer than 30 films over the past decade! And you know what? As much as rail against the state of romantic comedies these days, I would love to see Matt as a romantic lead, which he rarely does. Of course, I’d also love to see him in another action-thriller franchise, like the Bourne series. And I’d like to see him work with Martin Scorsese again. So basically, I’d like to see Matt work for another 39 years.

Matt Damon and others in LA on March 27, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Last night after the Oscars and local news Jimmy Kimmel aired a funny skit called The Handsome Men’s Club featuring cameos by such attractive souls as Sting, Patrick Dempsey, a shirtless Gilles Marini (from Sex and The City), Rob Lowe, John Kraskinski, Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hartnett, Taye Diggs, Tony Romo, Keith Urban, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The bit went on way too long and was just an excuse to add cameos by countless celebrities. Every time you turned around it seemed a new celebrity was shown sitting around the ever-expanding table. The premise was that Kimmel was the head of the self-obsessed Handsome Men’s Club and was being voted out by the members for not being handsome enough. Matthew McConaughey challenged Kimmel’s presidency and then Rob Lowe pointed out that Kimmel was wearing Spanx. Kimmel countered that he looked just like Taye Diggs, to which Taye and the members objected.

The whole thing was ridiculous and was capped off in true Kimmel style with his buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Affleck voted against Kimmel, shamefaced, and then Damon entered at the end and laughed maniacally, telling us we were out of time (a long running Kimmel gag). Next we saw Kimmel in bed spooning with his lover Affleck, realizing the whole thing was a bad dream. Affleck reassured Kimmel that he was attractive and was his “big daddy handsome,” at which point Ben’s wife, Jennifer Garner, popped out of bed and said “Ben, that’s enough, it’s getting weird.”

I didn’t think Kimmel could top his “f’ing Ben Affleck” response to then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s viral video, “I’m f’ing Matt Damon.” He did, though, sort of. It was more by sheer star power rather than hilarity, although I was pretty amused, particularly by Damon. He always manages to crack me up.

Oh, God. I love Matt Damon, but this is not a good look for him. Why in God’s name did he think he could grow a mustache? Apparently, he’s doing it for a movie, but if I was directing him, I would take one look at that thing and say “You know what? Let’s go clean-shaven for this bitch?” Matt can’t help that he has a baby-face. He can’t help that he looks like a dirt-lip. But he can shave the f-cker.

I guess he had one for The Informant! too. Which is bad enough – you already know how bad you look with a mustache, why can’t you say no to a director who wants you to grow one out again? Anyway, Matt was there with his beautiful wife Lucy, who does not seem to like The Dirt-Lip either. Her dress is really pretty, though.

I’m actually excited about seeing The Green Zone. It looks really good. Very “Jason Bourne in Iraq” but still, like a good political thriller. The film also stars Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson and Jason Isaacs, amongst others. All except Kinnear were at the premiere too (photos below). Here’s the trailer for The Green Zone:

Premiere photos from NY premiere of ‘The Green Zone’ on February 26, 2010. Credit: WENN.

James Cameron helped make big stars out of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and he’s doing the same for Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana. Things might have turned out much differently for the two relatively unknown stars of Avatar if a big name had signed on. The LA Times reports that both Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal were originally offered the role of Jake Sully in the highest grossing movie of all time, Avatar. Cameron confirmed that both actors turned down he part, but said that he “had my heart set on Sam [Worthington].” Worthington was living in his car before he landed the role in Avatar, and now his prospects are definitely looking up.

“Avatar” director James Cameron spoke to both Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal about playing the role of Jake Sully in the sci-fi epic that now stands as the biggest moneymaker in the history of Hollywood with $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

Both stars, perhaps leery of a blue-in-the-face gig, declined, and the filmmaker instead went with his first choice — unknown Aussie actor Sam Worthington, who was living in his car before he got the job. Cameron said he offered the role to the big-name stars only to placate the studio chiefs at Fox, who wanted a bankable star to offset some of the risks of the expensive project.

“I don’t think they ever had a problem with the CG, “ Cameron said. “Honestly, did I go out and try to woo them? No. I had my heart set on Sam. Maybe they sensed my lack of 100% commitment from me. Maybe it was the subject matter. This was a big ‘Star Wars’-type movie. They’re both serious actors.”

[From LA Times, via Cinematical, Fark]

I don’t think Avatar would have been the same without Worthington, although either Damon or Gyllenhaal would have played the hell out of that role. They’re both extraordinary actors who could have easily conveyed the nuance and depth necessary for the character. Avatar isn’t a film that required a big name to carry it, although Sigourney Weaver was incredible. (Apart from the smoking, but that wasn’t her fault!)

I’m in the states now and my local Walmart is playing a really fascinating “making of” segment with footage of Avatar being filmed. Whenever I’m in the store and it’s playing in the TV section I stop and watch it. The actors have on dark costumes and little blue dots on their face to capture the facial expressions for the CGI work. When they’re hanging out of airplanes they’re on minimal metal frames with fans blowing on them. Otherwise they’re working in a nearly empty set, which makes the resulting world, and all the very real emotions of the Navii, all the more impressive.

In other news about my imaginary husband, Matt Damon has been attached to play the late great Robert F. Kennedy in a biopic. It will be some time before it starts filming, as the script is being penned now and Damon has to read it before he signs on. In terms of his other projects, I know Damon isn’t about to do Bourne again given all the complications and his comments on the matter. The next film is likely to be a prequel played by someone else. I’m still disappointed, though, and hope that the fourth movie gets made with Damon. Bourne is the best action hero by far and no one can play him but Damon.

Thanks to Cinematical for the image below!