Matt Damon Says His Family Still Has This One ‘Non-Negotiable’ as His Children Get Older (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Matt Damon shares how family dinners remain a “non-negotiable” tradition to ensure quality time with his daughters

• The actor reflects on embracing the reality of an empty nest and prioritizing mindfulness with his family

• Damon says his daughters sacrificed a lot during the filming of The Odyssey and joined him at the premiere

Matt Damon’s girls might be growing up fast, but his family still has one “non-negotiable” in place to ensure they spend quality time together.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE for this week’s issue, The Odyssey star, 55, opens up about life as a dad to four daughters and how he’s feeling about having an empty nest on the horizon. The actor shares his four daughters — Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15 — with his wife Luciana.

“I feel like we are facing it and embracing the fact that it’s happening,” he shares. “We’ve been talking a lot about presence and about really trying to be in the moment, and because you can’t slow time down, the only way to really do it is to really be there and be in it.”

Damon says his family has “challenges” to be off their phones, and he and his wife are “trying to be mindful of holding onto what we can” as they already have two daughters out of the nest.

Matt Damon with wife Luciana and their family.
Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

Part of that mindfulness comes through a “non-negotiable” tradition that Damon says he and his family have practiced for years.

“We have family dinner every night, and that’s non-negotiable, and it’s always been that way,” he tells PEOPLE.

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Still, Damon admits there have been times when there’s “work going on during dinner,” and he and his wife are on their phones, which his daughter recently pointed out.

“One of my daughters said, ‘Well, family dinner, last night we didn’t talk.’ And we realized, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re right.’ We sat down for dinner, and you can get lost in that routine a little bit and not appreciate why you established the routine in the first place,” he shares. “So again, that’s the kind of family mindfulness we’re all working on.”

Matt Damon and his wife Luciana attend the World Premiere of ‘The Odyssey’ at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 6, 2026, in London, England.
Credit: Grant Buchanan/Dave Benett/WireImage

In June, Damon told PEOPLE that his career has offered him the opportunity to travel near and far — and his kids love to experience the world alongside him.

“We are seasoned travelers in our family, just because I work all over the world. So my kids love to travel,” said Damon.

Matt Damon
Credit: Gavin Bond

Speaking with PEOPLE at the London premiere of The Odyssey earlier this month, Damon shared that it was “great” having all four of his daughters at the premiere since his family also sacrificed “a lot” for the film.

“It’s great because they had to sacrifice a lot too for this,” he told PEOPLE. “I went away for a while, they came and visited, but it was a lot. It was a very long movie, very grueling shoot, and I’m really excited for my girls to see it tonight.”

Damon stars as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s newest film, which follows the story of Homer’s ancient Greek poem of the same name. The movie is out in theaters on Thursday, July 16.

For more on Matt Damon and The Odyssey, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available everywhere Friday.

Read the original article on People