Jesse Plemons Finally Weighs In After Decades Of People Saying He Looks Like Matt Damon

Jesse Plemons shared his true feelings about constantly being told that he strongly resembles fellow actor Matt Damon.

The Primetime Emmy Award-nominated thespian was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote the new anthology film Kinds of Kindness, in which he plays three different characters.

Before the 36-year-old sat down with the host, Plemons participated in a brief sketch where Kimmel's sidekick Guillermo accidently locked him up after mistaking the actor for Damon, whom he thought was "sneaking into the show."

The bit was a nod to Kimmel and Damon's fictitious beef with each other. The pair are actually good friends IRL.

Kimmel apologized to Plemons for the mix-up and asked if people often confuse him for Damon, to which he replied:

"It has somewhat been haunting me for a little while."

"There was an occasion at the Toronto Film Festival maybe 10 years or so where I was stepping into an elevator and, you know, everyone at festivals they're kinda looking around to see who they can spot."

Plemons recalled how a woman there asked him if he was Damon, to which he responded that he wasn't.

"And she looked at me as if 'Wow, Matt Damon is a liar,' and I felt bad."

Kimmel quipped, "It's true," prompting laughter from the audience.

You can watch a clip of Plemons' visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live! here.

Jesse Plemons on Getting Confused for Matt Damon, His Son Being Friends with Billy Kimmel & New Filmyoutu.be

When asked if he saw the resemblance to Damon, Plemons said "Not really" and that it was "hard to say."

The Texas native recalled that when he was younger, his aunt watched Good Will Hunting, the 1997 film in which Damon and Ben Affleck starred and won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay.

His aunt told Plemons' mom:

"This is what Jesse is gonna look like when he gets older."

"That's really mean," joked Kimmel about the aunt's prediction, adding, "That's really a mean thing to say."

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Plemons mentioned an early connection with Damon when he played the younger version of Damon's character in the 2000 western film All the Pretty Horses, produced and directed by Billy Bob Thornton. He was 12 at the time.

But when the young actor brought a girl he had a crush on at the time to the movie premiere, he was devastated to find his scenes were cut from the film.

"I was supposed to be the very first scene of the movie," said Plemons.

"We sit down, and I'm not there, and I keep thinking, oh, well, you know [they] could have changed it in the edit. Sat through the whole thing, and I never showed up."

He then had an epiphany and surmised that Damon may have had something to do with it, to which Kimmel agreed and said "Of course, it was him. Billy Bob [Thornton] would never do that."

Plemons laughed and remarked, "It's all making sense."

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

His career thankfully took off in 2016 at age 18 when he had his breakthrough role playing comic relief character Landry Clarke in the NBC sports drama TV series Friday Night Lights,

The show was inspired by the 1990 non-fiction novel written by H.G. Bissinger that was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2004.

Since then, Plemons has gone on to play a recurring character in the fifth season of AMC's drama Breaking Bad.

The long-running comparison to Damon began when fans of Breaking Bad referred to Plemons as "Meth Damon."

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

He received his first Primetime Emmy nomination for playing Ed Blumquist in the second season of the FX anthology series Fargo in 2015, in which he co-starred with his future wife, Kirsten Dunst.

He received a second Emmy nom in 2017 in the Black Mirror anthology series episode titled "USS Callister."

Plemons starred once again with Dunst in the 2021 western film The Power of the Dog, for which he nabbed an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

He appeared as a cameo in a horrifically unforgettable scene in the 2024 thriller film Civil War, starring Dunst.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

His latest film, Yorgos Lanthimos' Kinds of Kindness, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Plemons won the Best Actor award.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Kinds of Kindness opens in U.S. theaters this Friday.