People (Births)

• 1952 – Edward Zwick, American director, producer, and screenwriter.
• 1960 – Reed Hastings, American businessman, co-founded Netflix.
• 1966 – Karyn Parsons, American actress and producer.
• 1969 – Jeremy Davies, American actor.
• 1970 – Matt Damon, American actor, producer, and screenwriter.

Edward Zwick

Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and epic historical film genres, including About Last Night, Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall, and The Last Samurai (2003). He is also the co-creator of the television series thirtysomething and Once and Again.

Zwick’s body of work has earned numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Picture as a producer, and Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series, and Outstanding Dramatic Special. He has additionally been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards.

Reed Hastings

Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr. (born 08 October 1960) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder, chairman, and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Netflix, and sits on a number of boards and non-profit organisations. A former member of the California State Board of Education, Hastings is an advocate for education reform through charter schools.

Karyn Parsons

Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born 08 October 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film Major Payne opposite Damon Wayans, and in The Job (2001-2002) as Toni.

Jeremy Davies

Jeremy Davies (né Boring; born 08 October 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Ray Aibelli in Spanking the Monkey (1994), Corporal Upham in Saving Private Ryan (1998), Snow in Solaris (2002), Bill Henson in Dogville (2003), Charles Manson in Helter Skelter (2004), Sergeant Gene DeBruin in Rescue Dawn (2006) and Daniel Faraday on the ABC series Lost (2008-2010).

Davies won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2012 for his portrayal of Dickie Bennett in the FX series Justified (2011-2015). He also received the BAFTA Award for Best Performance in a Video Game for his role as Baldur in God of War (2018). Werner Herzog, who directed Davies in Rescue Dawn, described him as “a unique, very significant talent”, asserting that “anywhere in the world, there [are] very, very few actors of his calibre.”

Matt Damon

Matthew Paige Damon (born 08 October 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among Forbes’ most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North American box office, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, and seven Primetime Emmy Awards.

Damon began his acting career by appearing in high school theatre productions. He made his professional acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988). He continued acting in Courage Under Fire (1996), and The Rainmaker. He soon gained prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting, which won them the Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Screenplay. He attracted further praise from critics for his performances in Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Syriana (2005), The Departed (2006), The Informant!, Invictus (both 2009) True Grit (2010), Contagion (2011), Downsizing (2017), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Stillwater, and The Last Duel (both 2021). He received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his leading role as Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars, in The Martian (2015).

Damon is also known for his starring roles as Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002-2007; 2016), and as con man Linus Caldwell in the Ocean’s trilogy (2001-2007; 2018). He also portrayed the fallen angel Loki in the View Askewniverse films Dogma (1999) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Loki actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

He is also known for his performances in television, including his portrayal as Scott Thorson in the HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra (2013) for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominations for his performances on 30 Rock in 2011 and Saturday Night Live in 2019. He also produced the reality series Project Greenlight (2001-2015) as well as the film Manchester by the Sea (2016).

Damon has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films, and has established two production companies with Affleck. He has been involved in charitable work with organisations including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, Feeding America, and Water.org.