<p id=”par-1_58″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/matt-damon/”>Matt Damon</a> having a family changed many things about his life, including <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matt-damon-shared-having-family-changed-approach-jason-bourne.html/”>his approach to doing films</a> like the <em>Bourne </em>franchise. But his family started almost as soon as he started dating his wife Luciana Barroso. Barroso already had a child from a previous relationship at the time, which meant that Damon had to become a father early.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-matt-damon-once-shared-his-initial-approach-to-fatherhood”>Matt Damon once shared his initial approach to fatherhood</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Luciana-Barroso-Matt-Damon.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Matt Damon and Luciana Damon attend Apple Original Films’ “The Instigators”.” class=”wp-image-3773519″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Luciana Barroso and Matt Damon | Dia Dipasupil/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_40″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matt-damons-wife-luciana-barroso-shares-the-story-of-how-they-met-we-had-a-connection-right-away.html/”>Damon and Barroso first met</a> while she was working in a bar in Miami in 2003. Barroso shared they had instant chemistry with each other, and the two seemed to have gotten closer after she revealed she had a daughter.</p>
<p id=”par-3_90″>“We definitely had a connection right away. It was so easy to talk to each other [and] we were very comfortable [with each other], and by the end of the night he invited me to go out with his friends. But I was like, ‘I can’t, I have a 4-year-old daughter, I’m not going anywhere’… and that was one of the things he loved, that I had a daughter. He said, ‘I love that you’re a mum and that’s your priority,’” she said in a 2018 interview with <a href=”https://people.com/parents/all-about-matt-damon-kids/#:~:text=Matt%20Damon%20and%20his%20wife,%2C%20Isabella%2C%20Gia%20and%20Stella.”>Vogue Australia</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-4_16″>Damon’s response to Barroso’s parental responsibilities only proved to the former bartender how compatible they were.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-2″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=’Matt Damon: My Kids Gave Me a “Second Chance at Life”‘ width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/PzuyNrNVfTg?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-5_56″>“Some guys might have been different, they might think it’s complicated, but for him it wasn’t,” Barroso said. “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. It was just Matt, to me he’s just Matt.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_21″>Back when Damon and Barroso had just started dating, the actor confided what his initial relationship with Barroso’s daughter was like.</p>
<p id=”par-7_55″>“Without talking too much about her, because she’s five and she didn’t sign up for this, what I could say is that I am definitely not playing daddy,” Damon once said according to <a href=”https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30163658.html”>Irish Examiner</a>. “She’s got a great father, you know? The two of them split, but they’re great parents in their own right.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_18″>Damon could also immediately relate to Barroso’s daughter considering that his own parents divorced at an early age.</p>
<p id=”par-9_50″>“My mother had a man in her life for 16 years and that guy was a very positive influence in my life without ever trying to be a father. So I have some experience of that kind of dynamic and so far it seems to be going well,” he said.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-luciana-barroso-s-ex-felt-about-matt-damon-as-a-stepfather”>How Luciana Barroso’s ex felt about Matt Damon as a stepfather</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-3″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Matt Damon Talks Air and His Daughter Refusing to Watch His Movies” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/hNPJhR7qZ4g?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matt-damon-trying-reason-ben-affleck-compassionate-jennifer-lopez-source-says.html/”>
Matt Damon Trying to ‘Reason’ With Ben Affleck to Be More Compassionate Toward Jennifer Lopez, Source Says </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-10_49″>Barroso and Damon married each other in 2005, and have stayed together thanks to one secret <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matt-damon-and-luciana-barroso-have-1-secret-to-making-their-marriage-work.html/”>that makes their marriage work</a>. Since then, they’ve <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matt-damon-old-stillwater-star-kids.html/”>had three more daughters together</a>. Speaking with <a href=”https://www.today.com/parents/matt-damon-fatherhood-taught-me-girls-are-smarter-1c7406286″>Today</a>, <em>The Departed </em>star described his new role as a father to be a rewarding yet surprising experience.</p>
<p id=”par-11_85″>“I never expected to be surrounded by girls, but it’s great. …You never know which way life’s going to take you,” Damon said. “I’m learning so much, not the least of which is how much smarter girls are. I operated under the assumption that us guys had a chance, but I realized when I was completely wrapped around my 2-year-old’s finger, and she knew it. If they can do that to us at 2 years old, when they’re fully grown we really don’t stand a chance.”</p>
<p id=”par-12_55″>But over the years, Damon and Barroso have also been sharing parenting duties with Barroso’s ex, Arbello. In a rare interview Arbello did with <em>Star </em>(via <a href=”https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/meet-luciana-barroso-bartender-stole-205149461.html”>Yahoo</a>), he revealed that he’s still very much in his daughter’s life. However, he couldn’t have been happier that his daughter had someone like Damon as an extra dad.</p>
<p id=”par-13_27″>“I couldn’t possibly have asked for a better stepfather for my daughter than Matt,” he said. “He treats Alexia like she is his own flesh and blood.”</p>
<p id=”par-14_21″>Arbello emphasized that they all had a great relationship, and there are no negative stories to tell about the Barroso-Damon clan.</p>
<p id=”par-15_46″> “People have been hunting me down for years, offering me money and looking for a story. But I could be living in a tent, and I still wouldn’t sell them out. There <em>is</em> no story. Matt is a fantastic stepfather, and Luciana is a terrific mom,” he said.</p>