50 Fun Facts About Famous Matts and Matthews

Matt Damon has kept up a long-running mock feud with which late-night host, who never has time for him?

Jimmy Kimmel started the gag by apologising at the end of his show for running out of time for Damon. In 2013 Damon hit back, staging a kidnap of the host and taking over the whole broadcast.

Matt Groening borrowed Portland street names such as Flanders and Lovejoy for characters in which animated series?

The Simpsons also carries his family's names: Groening named Homer and Marge after his parents, and Lisa and Maggie after his younger sisters.

Matt LeBlanc was reportedly down to his last eleven dollars when he landed the part of which Friends character?

Joey Tribbiani kept LeBlanc in work for twelve years: ten seasons of Friends and two more in the spin-off Joey.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker co-wrote which Broadway musical about two missionaries in Uganda, winner of nine Tony Awards?

The Book of Mormon took eight years to write, as Stone and Parker fitted the work around their South Park schedule. It opened on Broadway in March 2011.

Matt Smith earned an Emmy nomination playing which royal husband opposite Claire Foy in Netflix's The Crown?

Prince Philip was Smith's part for the first two seasons, after which Tobias Menzies inherited the role and won an Emmy for it.

Matt Cardle beat Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction to win the 2010 series of which British talent show?

The X Factor made Cardle its seventh winner, while One Direction, a group built on the show from five rejected soloists, were the last act eliminated behind him and Ferguson.

Matt Duffer and his identical twin Ross created which Netflix series set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana?

Stranger Things was the twins' own pitch after a spell writing for the Fox series Wayward Pines. Matt and Ross Duffer work on all their projects as a pair.

Director Matt Reeves cast Robert Pattinson as which DC Comics superhero in a 2022 reboot styled as a detective story?

Batman became more of a detective in Reeves's film, whose script drew on Alfred Hitchcock thrillers and the comic Year One.

Marshal Matt Dillon kept the peace in Dodge City, Kansas, for twenty seasons of which television western?

Gunsmoke started on radio and reached television in 1955, when John Wayne introduced the opening instalment and predicted stardom for its lead, James Arness.

Which actor played Matt Hooper, the oceanographer who sets out aboard the Orca in Steven Spielberg's Jaws?

Richard Dreyfuss was suggested by George Lucas, who had directed him in American Graffiti. The role of Hooper was then rewritten to suit him.

Matt Lucas replaced Sandi Toksvig in 2020 as co-host of which television competition filmed in a tent?

The Great British Bake Off paired Lucas with Noel Fielding for three series. He had first found fame as a score-keeping baby in a romper suit on the panel show Shooting Stars.

Quarterback Matt Ryan, nicknamed Matty Ice, was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2016 with which team?

Atlanta Falcons fans saw that season end in Super Bowl LI, where the team led New England 28–3 and then lost the first Super Bowl ever decided in overtime.

Sir Matt Busby rebuilt Manchester United after the Munich air disaster to win which trophy at Wembley in 1968?

European Cup victory came ten years after the tragedy that killed eight of his players. United beat Benfica 4–1 after extra time to become the first English club to win it.

Matt Dawson, later a team captain on A Question of Sport, won the 2003 World Cup with England in which sport?

Rugby union made Dawson a double world champion: he and Lawrence Dallaglio were the first players to win the World Cup at both fifteen- and seven-a-side.

Matt Haig wrote which 2020 bestselling novel, in which Nora Seed samples the lives she might have lived?

The Midnight Library sits between the living and the dead, with its clocks frozen at twelve and every volume on its shelves holding a path Nora could have taken.

Matt Willis, crowned King of the Jungle on I'm a Celebrity in 2006, played bass in which pop-punk trio?

Busted lived on inside a supergroup: Willis and bandmate James Bourne later joined the four members of McFly to tour and record as McBusted.

Matt Dillon earned an Oscar nomination as a bigoted Los Angeles police officer in which 2004 ensemble drama?

Crash went on to win Best Picture, one of three Oscars from its six nominations. Writer-director Paul Haggis drew on his own carjacking in 1991.

Matt Damon grew potatoes to stay alive as stranded astronaut Mark Watney in which Ridley Scott film?

The Martian is based on Andy Weir's bestselling novel and won Damon a Golden Globe, awarded in the musical or comedy category.

George Clooney played veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski opposite Sandra Bullock in which 2013 thriller set in Earth orbit?

Gravity won seven Oscars, more than any other film that year, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón.

Crooner Matt Monro, once a London bus driver, sang the title song for which Sean Connery James Bond film?

From Russia with Love was his first collaboration with composer John Barry. Monro later sang the Oscar-winning title song of Born Free, which became his signature tune.

Matt Goss sang lead in which 1980s British pop group, with his twin brother Luke on drums?

Bros reunited in 2017 for a show at London's O2 Arena, and the tickets sold out in seven seconds.

Matt Biondi won five gold medals for the United States at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in which sport?

Swimming brought Biondi eleven Olympic medals over three Games, eight of them gold. At Seoul he set world records in the 50-metre freestyle and three relays.

Matt Kenseth, NASCAR's top-series champion in 2003, twice won which showpiece race at a Florida speedway?

Daytona 500 victories came to Kenseth in 2009, when rain cut the race short, and again in 2012.

Matt Berry plays the vampire Laszlo Cravensworth in which mockumentary series set on Staten Island?

What We Do in the Shadows earned Berry an Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy. British viewers knew him first as the bombastic boss Douglas Reynholm in The IT Crowd.

Matt Baker, a schoolboy gymnast who later fronted Countryfile, presented which BBC children's show from 1999 to 2006?

Blue Peter was looking for a new presenter when his future wife's aunt spotted the vacancy. Baker went on to co-host The One Show for nine years.

Drummer Matt Cameron joined Pearl Jam in 1998 after the first breakup of which Seattle band, known for Black Hole Sun?

Soundgarden reunited in 2010, which left Cameron drumming for two of Seattle's biggest bands at once until singer Cornell's death in 2017.

Matt Helders bought a drum kit because his friends already had guitars, then became the drummer of which Sheffield band?

Arctic Monkeys fans also hear Helders sing harmonies with frontman Alex Turner. Away from the band, he played the drums on Iggy Pop's album Post Pop Depression.

Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba spent seven years filling in for Tom DeLonge in which pop-punk band?

Blink-182 made two albums with Skiba, California and Nine, before DeLonge returned in 2022.

Matt Hughes, twice a welterweight champion, was the eighth inductee into the Hall of Fame of which organization?

UFC crowds twice watched Hughes run up six-fight winning streaks, beating every available opponent in the welterweight division. He came to the cage as a champion school wrestler from Illinois.

Matt Stone voices which South Park boy, whose words are muffled by the hood of his orange parka?

Kenny McCormick is famous for dying and turning up alive again. Near the end of the fifth season, Stone and Trey Parker considered killing him off permanently.

Backup quarterback Matt Saracen is thrust into the starting job for the Dillon Panthers in which television drama?

Friday Night Lights grew out of a non-fiction account of high school football in Odessa, Texas. Zach Gilford's shy Saracen takes over when the star quarterback suffers a career-ending injury.

Which Saturday Night Live comedian played Matt Foley, a clumsy motivational speaker created by Bob Odenkirk?

Chris Farley named the character after a college teammate from Marquette University who went on to become a Catholic priest.

Matt, a computer-controlled Mii opponent so tough that he became an internet meme, appears in which Nintendo game?

Wii Sports sold about 82 million copies, making it Nintendo's best-selling game and the best-selling game exclusive to a single console.

Matt Frewer played which stuttering, wisecracking 1980s TV host, who was advertised as being computer-generated?

Max Headroom was sold as the first computer-generated TV presenter, but he was really Frewer in prosthetics, contact lenses and a moulded plastic suit.

Matt Czuchry played Logan Huntzberger, a wealthy Yale boyfriend of Rory, in which mother-and-daughter comedy-drama?

Gilmore Girls gave Czuchry his breakthrough in 2004, and he returned as Logan for the 2016 Netflix reunion. In between he spent seven years as lawyer Cary Agos on The Good Wife.

Matt LeBlanc won a Golden Globe playing a satirical version of himself in which comedy about writers in Hollywood?

Episodes follows a husband-and-wife team hired to remake their hit British sitcom for American television. It was LeBlanc's first regular series since his Friends spin-off ended.

Matt Groening drew which weekly comic strip, starring a rabbit named Binky, from 1977 until 2012?

Life in Hell began as a self-published comic that Groening used to describe Los Angeles to his friends. Its characters Akbar and Jeff started out as failed attempts to draw Charlie Brown.

Matt Smith plays the king's volatile brother Daemon Targaryen in which HBO prequel to Game of Thrones?

House of the Dragon is set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones and draws on George R. R. Martin's fictional history Fire & Blood.

Matt Stonie dethroned an eight-time defending champion on the Fourth of July in 2015 by eating 62 of which food?

Hot dogs went down 62 to 60 that day, as Stonie edged out Chestnut, the sport's dominant eater, at the Nathan's contest. He now films eating challenges for millions of YouTube subscribers.

Matt Hamilton won 2018 Olympic gold for the United States with a team nicknamed The Rejects in which winter sport?

Curling had never before produced an Olympic gold for the United States. Hamilton also played mixed doubles at those Games with his sister Becca.

Matt Fitzpatrick won his first major in 2022 at Brookline, the venue of his earlier US Amateur triumph, in which sport?

Golf's US Open was his prize that week at The Country Club in Massachusetts. Fitzpatrick's first professional win had come at the 2015 British Masters.

Matt Leinart won the 2004 Heisman Trophy leading which college team, coached by Pete Carroll, to a perfect season?

USC Trojans quarterbacks were on a roll: Leinart had understudied Carson Palmer, who won the Heisman himself two years earlier.

Matt Cain struck out 14 Houston Astros in 2012 while pitching the first perfect game in which MLB franchise's history?

San Francisco Giants fans watched Cain throw 125 pitches that night, the most ever in a perfect game. His strikeout total tied Sandy Koufax's record for one.

Congressman Matt Santos is talked into a long-shot campaign by Josh Lyman and wins the presidency in which drama?

The West Wing ends with Santos succeeding President Bartlet, and with Josh Lyman, the man who persuaded him to run, as his chief of staff.

Welsh actor Matt Ryan played which occult detective from DC Comics on NBC and later in The CW's Arrowverse?

John Constantine outlived his own show for Ryan: NBC cancelled it after a single season, yet he went on voicing the character in animated films and a web series.

Comics writer Matt Fraction's 2012 run on which Marvel hero, drawn by David Aja, inspired a Disney+ miniseries?

Hawkeye, the miniseries starring Jeremy Renner, drew heavily on the comic, and Fraction served as a consultant on it.

Drummer Matt Sorum was spotted on tour with The Cult by Slash, who recruited him in 1990 for which band?

Guns N' Roses hired Sorum to replace Steven Adler, and he played on three of their studio albums. He later rejoined Slash and Duff McKagan in Velvet Revolver.

Matt Dillon played Dallas Winston alongside Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze in which 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film?

The Outsiders was made after a school librarian in Fresno, California, and her students inspired Coppola to film S. E. Hinton's novel.

Matt Reeves directed which 2008 found-footage monster film, greenlit in secret and produced by J. J. Abrams's Bad Robot?

Cloverfield was dreamed up after Abrams and his son visited a toy store in Japan. The creature that designer Neville Page built for it was nicknamed Clover.

Matt Shakman directed which 2021 Marvel miniseries for Disney+ before making The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

WandaVision made Shakman a Marvel regular: he later left a planned Star Trek film and was confirmed weeks afterwards as the Fantastic Four director.