Matt Damon recalled a core memory that lives with him after the death of his father, Kent Damon.
During a April 1 appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” the actor played a round of “The Colbert Questionert” where he was asked a variety of quick questions, including his first memory.
Damon first said, “I remember my crib,” before diving into a powerful dream he had about his late father.
“After my father passed away in 2017, within that year, I had this crazy dream,” he began. “He came to me in a dream and he embraced me. And the feeling that I got was the feeling that I had — which I think is like my first memory — which was the feeling of what it felt like to be held by him.”
“It was a feeling of such overwhelming protection and love and it was preverbal, so I can’t even explain what it felt like,” he said, adding that all he knew was that his father was there. “And I was feeling that embrace.”
He added that it reminded him that “I must have felt that as one of the very first things that I was aware of as my consciousness came online.”
Kent Damon died on Dec 14, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. He was 74. The actor's representatives today TODAY at the time that Kent Damon died from complications involving multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that weakens the body’s ability to fight infection.
Kent Damon’s diagnosis was first revealed in 2011.
“It’s been a slow unfolding; my dad’s sick, so that’s a process we’re going through,” Matt Damon told “Extra“ on Dec. 11, 2017. “We’ll take any prayers you got, so throw ‘em up there.”
Over the years, the “Bourne Identity” star has paid tribute to the Damon patriarch. In 2018, during his “Saturday Night Live” monologue, he recalled his dad letting him stay up to watch the comedy sketch show when he was eight years old.
“So, week after week, I tried to stay up, and it wasn’t until I was 8 years old that I made it all the way to the end,” Damon said. “I probably didn’t get all the jokes, but I laughed at everything that my dad laughed at.”
He added, “And although it was way past our bedtime, my dad knew there was nothing more important in the world than to laugh with the people that you love.”