This is our Damon on stage

Matt Damon flashes his trademark preppy grin in his West End debut in This Is Our Youth.

The 31-year-old actor - the latest A-list Hollywood star to grace the London stage - has taken over the lead in the drugs-and-sex drama at the Garrick Theatre.

This Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan's first play, is set during the Reagan era and follows the fortunes of three New York teenagers during 48 hours of drug abuse, seduction and navel-gazing.

Damon, with Ben Affleck's brother Casey and Summer Phoenix - younger sister of Gladiator star Joaquin and the late River - star in the play, taking over the leading roles last week.

The Hollywood trio took over from three other big young names in American film: Anna Paquin, Hayden Christensen - who stars as Anakin Skywalker in the new Star Wars film - and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Last month Damon was dealt a blow when he was turned away from the Ivy during a break from rehearsals. The Talented Mr Ripley star was told he and his friends - who included co-stars Affleck and Phoenix - should try another restaurant nearby.

The trio had been working 12-hour days before retiring to their suites at Covent Garden Hotel and had been warned by producers that hard partying during rehearsals would not be tolerated.

Ironically, their regime could not be further from the plot of the play, which charts a drug and drink-fuelled spending spree.