Matt Damon can always count on his wife Luciana Barroso, no matter the odds.
In a new interview with GQ magazine, the Oscar-winning actor revealed that his longtime spouse suffered a brain aneurysm shortly before they attended the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.
Damon, 56, was reflecting on his attendance of past Oscars ceremonies, including his infamous absence from the 79th Academy Awards, where his film "The Departed" won best picture.
"I got all these calls from all the cast and the studio, like, 'Hey, where were you, man?' I totally blew it," Damon recalled in the Nov. 5 cover story. "And then the next time that that happened was on 'Oppenheimer,' and we had this whole scary thing happen where my wife had a brain aneurysm."
A brain aneurysm occurs
when there is a "bulge or ballooning" of fluid within a blood vessel in the brain, according to Mayo Clinic. The condition typically doesn't cause symptoms or serious health issues, but if an aneurysm ruptures, it can "quickly become life-threatening and require emergency treatment."
Despite the health scare, Damon said Barroso turned out "totally fine," but she had to undergo brain surgery the week before the Oscars.
At the 96th Academy Awards, Damon's film "Oppenheimer" was up for several top awards, including best picture. The Christopher Nolan historical epic ended up sweeping the coveted category and took home a total of seven awards.
And luckily for Damon, he was able to enjoy the career victory with his wife by his side.
"It was the first night she felt good enough to get up and had her energy back," Damon said of Barroso. "And she surprised me and got a dress, and we went out to the after-party because she remembered that the last time it happened, I didn't do it. And she was like, 'This time, we're going out.' And it was pretty … heroic of her to do that and really meaningful."
Damon met Barroso, then a bartender, in Miami while filming the 2003 film "Stuck on You." The couple married in 2005 in a private civil ceremony in New York City. They share three daughters; Damon is also stepfather to Barroso's daughter from a previous relationship.
The pair has also collaborated several times in Damon's work, with Barroso serving as a partner in Artists Equity, a production company Damon cofounded with "Good Will Hunting" costar Ben Affleck. Barroso coproduced Damon's recent films "The Instigators" and "The Rip."
The "Odyssey" star reflected on his decadeslong relationship with Barroso in a July interview with People magazine, calling their marriage "the greatest thing in my life."
"There's a lot of love and respect underneath the relationship, and a lot of trust," Damon said. "It's built on a very sturdy foundation. We continue to grow and evolve as people, and so that foundation's really everything."
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Damon recalls wife Luciana Barroso's 'scary' brain aneurysm
