Ben Affleck and Matt Damon believe police officers are “underappreciated” and “underfunded.”

During a recent appearance on “The Howard Stern Show,” the longtime friends discussed their latest movie, “The Rip,” where the actors play Miami police officers who seize millions while uncovering scandal in their own force, according to IMDb.

Affleck and Damon were discussing their roles and the physical preparation that went into transforming into “honest cops.”

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon advocate for law enforcement officers. (Getty Images)

“These are hardcore guys,” Stern said of their characters. “I mean, you really captured that angst. Like, I’m an honest cop, but everyone’s looking at me like I’m dishonest.”

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This comment from Stern led Damon and Affleck to advocate for members of law enforcement.

“It’s about going out and doing a honest day’s work and the integrity and the meaning of that… underappreciated, under suspicion often…”

— Ben Affleck

“One of the things that I remember talking to Matt about with this was these people, who, as you say, don’t make a lot of money,” Affleck began. 

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He continued, “It’s about going out and doing a honest day’s work and the integrity and the meaning of that… underappreciated, under suspicion often…”

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 1997. (Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

“Underfunded,” Damon chimed in.

“Underfunded. So to me, that was exactly what you described was at the heart of this thing,” Affleck said to Stern. 

On Tuesday, Affleck and Damon were guests on the “Today Show” and discussed spending time in Miami with police officers, researching their profession. 

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been friends for 40 years. (Getty Images)

“We went down and met the people who do this work and rode along with them and spent some time with them. That was great,” Damon began. “A lot of the language, the way the cops relate to each other, all of that was kind of already baked into the script. That research piece is always the fun stuff for us.” 

“They were really gracious with their time and shared their stuff with us,” Affleck added. “A lot of them are in the movie in the supporting parts, so it was cool.”

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Damon and Affleck’s friendship is one of Hollywood’s most enduring bonds, dating back to their childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The longtime pals rose to fame together after co-writing “Good Will Hunting,” which earned them Academy Awards and cemented their creative partnership. 

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck earned Academy Awards for “Good Will Hunting” in 1998. (Getty Images)

The friends joked about their friendship on the “Today Show.” Damon said in “little ways” they have gotten sick of each other over the past 40 years, but never in “big ways.”

“The Rip” stars Damon and Affleck and debuts in theaters on Jan. 16.

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