Good Luciana Bozan Barroso met Jason Bourne actor Matt Damon in a Miami, Florida bar in 2003. She was the bartender. For him, it was kind of love at first sight. She wasn't so certain. The story of that first night is funny and sweet.
Luciana was born in Argentina in 1976. Her mom, a housekeeper, and her dad, an insurance agent divorced and Luciana ended up with her grandparents.
After college, she worked as an air hostess and by 2003 was working as a bartender in Miami. She was divorced, with a 4-year-old daughter in tow. Good Will Hunting star Matt Damon was in Miami filming Stuck On You alongside Greg Kinnear and Eva Mendes.
The night they met, Harvard-educated actor Matt Damon was out with some of the cast and crew from the film. Had the group chosen another bar, Luciana and Matt probably would have never met. So it was a bit of a fluke, to say the least.
Let's have a look at Luciana Bozan Barroso and see what's she's about.
Luciana Before Matt
As we said, Luciana came into this world in 1976, July 31 to be precise, in Salta Argentina. After her mom and dad divorced, she was sent to live with her Italian grandparents.
Early on, she showed a passionate interest in the arts, even getting a degree in the Arts from a local college.
But she was young, pretty, and wanted to see a bit of the world. So, for a time she did the air hostess thing.
Luciana's first marriage was to Arbello Barroso. In 1999, they welcomed a daughter they named Alexia. Sad to say, four or five years into the marriage they decided to call it quits. Luciana got a job in Miami as a bartender and settled into life as a single mom. Enter Matt Damon.
That Fateful Night
The funny thing about Matt Damon meeting Luciana in a Miami bar is that originally the film he was making was set to be filmed in Hawaii. Probably thinking it would be cheaper to film in the Continental U.S. the producers changed direction and chose Miami. Like Hawaii, it's got beaches and water and a tropical vibe.
That fateful night, Matt was out with some of the cast and crew and they just happened to decide on going to the bar where Luciana was working.
Matt has told Ellen DeGeneres that the first time he saw her from across a crowded room, he "knew he had a future with her".
He said, “I literally saw her across a crowded room, literally. Eight years and four kids later, that’s my life. I don’t know how else our paths would’ve crossed if that didn’t happen. If all those things didn’t happen.” His story is very sweet and romantic. Luciana tells a slightly different tale.
In a rare interview, she told Vogue Australia, “Matt's story is that he saw me across the room and there was light on me.” She laughed and said they were in a nightclub and that there were spotlights all over the place. She also told the magazine that Matt was trying to avoid overeager fans when he approached her.
Far from the romantic story he tells, Luciana says he was hiding behind her bar to avoid fans that had gotten a little too aggressive. And the two got to talking, exchanging snappy banter, and laughing.
But the ever-practical and cool-headed Luciana decided to put Matt to work, thereby upping her tip money.
She has said, “So I put him to work with me! I said: ‘you know, if you’re going to be back here, you can’t just be standing there!’ He had trained as a bartender for a film years before, so he started making drinks. And he made me a ton of money in tips that night because of course everyone wanted to go and see him. So it turned into a really fun night and 15 years later, here we are!”
While not the romantic Damon is, Luciana agrees, “We definitely had a connection right away, it was so easy to talk to each other. We were very comfortable [with each other].”
And like Matt, Luciana was and is determined to keep their private life very private indeed. They kept the fact they were dating on the DL.
Marriage
So, by 2005 the couple is ready to tie the knot. And their first choice was to do the deed in Miami where they met. But the press got wind of the news and, in order to avoid a media circus, they quickly arranged to take their vows in the decidedly unromantic setting of New York's City Hall.
Eight years later, Matt Damon arranged to renew their vows in a luxury hotel in Santa Lucia in the West Indies. Damon's bestie Ben Affleck was invited, as were Chris Hemsworth and Emily Blunt. It was a very private and a very lavish affair.
Luciana Stays In The Background
A while back Matt adopted Luciana's daughter Alexia. For her part, Luciana very much puts the emphasis on family, making looking after Matt and her four daughters her number one priority. As much as possible, she stays out of the spotlight.
According to some, there has been some tension between Luciana and Matt during the lockdown. But they are working through it, together, as always.