Celebs & their Best Friends

Matt Damon:"Of course, It's Ben Affleck. What's interesting is that our friendship has been tested under some reall pressure-packed circumstances. Making a movie is tough. We had to talk about Good Will Hunting for about a year, and publicists would actually come up to us and say. 'What a great publicity hook-pretending that you're best friends.' They couldn't believe the friendship was real. One publicists said, "Wow, you guys really do like each other." We do. He's my best buddy, someone I can count on, and I know he's just a phone call away.

Adam Sandler:"I have this group of the best friends from my days as a student at NYU. These guys helped to get me into comedy. I wanted to play at a local club called The Dive, but the deal was that I could only do my act if I brought in my own crowd. My friends actually had to pay a steep cover charge to hear my jokes I tried out on them all the time for free. Man, that's friendship. Now the buddies work with me. One even produced and wrote The Wedding Singer. I figure if I'm shotting a movie for three months and editing for another three, I want people around me I enjoy hanging with. And these people. These guys know me on days when I don't even know me.

Claire Danes:"Winona Ryder is a great best friend. She gave me an album, which led to meeting my boyfriend [Ben Lee]. Winona threw me a surprise birthday party when I turned 18, and she flew Ben from L.A. to New York City to meet me. She told me to go outside, and there he was standing on the curb holding one red rose."

Gwyneth Paltrow:"Mary and I have been best friends since we met in kindergarten. She's like me sister, and she knows everything about me. We have another best friend named Maya, wo came to our school in third grade. All of my best friends are from grade school. We get together and it's like it always has been, which is the beautiful thing. It doesn't matter what I do for a living. There's no room for that stuff. It's just girls getting together to giggle. We also get into those intimate girlie talks. I's great because I spend a lot of my life wondering, 'Okay, what are your motives?' I worry that people will take advantage of me. Then I get with my best girlfriends and I can be just Gwyneth."

Meg Ryan:"My best friend really is my husband, Dennis. He does what every best friend should do: listens. I think when you realize someone else really hears you and not just what they want to hear, then that person is your best friend."

James Van Der Beek:"My best friend is this girl named Sarah whom I went to high school with in Connecticut. She's a riot, which is why we became friends. We went to this private school with uniforms, and Sarah once wore my pants in place of her skirt. She got sent to the dean's office, where they grilled her about the pants. I wish I could say that she didn't give me up, but she did. Later, Sarah explained that I was such a good kid in school, she knew I wouldn't get into real trouble. Best friends know everything about you."

Usher:"I know it sounds corny, but my best friend is my mother. She raised me all by herself. I was only a baby when my father left us. I can't imagine how hard that must have been on her. She also got me into music when she directed the church choir. My mother moved from Tennessee to Atlanta to make it easier for me to get my career started, and she's been there for me ever since. No matter what's going on, I can always call her."

Freddie Prinze Jr.:"My best friend is definitely my girlfriend, Kimberly McCullough. we met on a blind date. I remember calling her up to ask her out, and she said, 'Let me ask my mother.' I was like, 'Wait, how old is this girl?' Then I drove an hour and a half to pick her up for our date. I rang and rang the doorbell. No answer. I thought, What the heck? Just as I was about to leave, out walked this beautiful girl who took my breath away. I was stammering, 'Uh, would you, um, like to ah, get some dinner?' We have been together ever since