Matt Damon already has a house full of rescue dogs, but he is not ruling out adding one more.
The actor, 55, opened up about his love for rescue animals while spending time with dogs looking for homes at the Eastwood Ranch Foundation’s Animal Rescue and Adoption Facility in California.
During a visit with The Dodo, Damon revealed that he and his wife, Luciana, 49, have rescued five dogs over the years.
“We have five dogs already ranging in age from two to 12,” Damon said while cuddling a puppy he called a “little lovebug.” “We love to rescue dogs. They’re just the greatest.”
The couple’s oldest dog is named Charlie, though Damon said he and Luciana call him “Charles.” Their pack also includes Osita, Cookie, Rudy and Scoutie.
Cookie, Damon said, has a bit of a royal personality.
“She’s kinda like royalty, she’s kinda like a princess,” he said.
Rudy has earned the nickname “Rudesters,” while Osita has a very special backstory.
Damon admitted that living in Brooklyn makes it difficult to keep adding dogs to the family, but said he and Luciana love giving them a good life.
“We live in Brooklyn, so it’s tough to keep accruing these dogs, but we love them and we do give them a great life,” he shared.
When asked whether he might leave the rescue facility with another dog, Damon did not shut down the idea.
“Who knows?” he said. “I wouldn’t bet against us leaving with a dog today.”
During his visit to the Agoura Hills rescue, which specializes in saving pets from high-kill shelters, Damon also spent time with Betsy, a pit bull who has been waiting for a forever home.
He joked that his outing with Betsy was a rare kind of date.
“For one reason, it was the first date my wife has allowed me to go on in 23 years,” Damon said in a video shared by the foundation.
The visit was tied to the charity’s free community adoption event over the weekend.
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Damon also shared the story of how his family once returned from a trip to Costa Rica with more than just memories.
“We went to Costa Rica and came back with a cat and a dog,” he said.
The cat, he explained, had been surviving on his own in the jungle. Damon, Luciana and their four daughters — Alexia, Isabella, Gia and Stella — began feeding him while staying at an Airbnb for a month.
By the end of the trip, they realized the cat had become dependent on them.
“So we caught him, and he had a great life,” Damon said. “He passed away a year and a half ago. But he was just the most staunch, incredible cat.”
The dog they brought home from that same trip was Osita, who was only 6 weeks old when they found her.
Damon joked that Osita still has the personality of a “survivor beach dog,” even though she grew up with the family and has “never missed a meal.”
“We call her our apocalypse dog because if anything ever went wrong, she’d probably be the one we could rely on,” he said.
With five rescue dogs already at home and a clear soft spot for animals in need, Damon may not be done expanding his furry family just yet.