Matt Damon has several interviews to promote The Martian, which is out this week. One of most extensive profiles is in The Guardian, which I’m excerpting below. Damon makes some clever wisecracks, but other than that he says pretty much the same thing he’s said for years about his relationship with fame. In fact in his interview with The Guardian, Damon made many of the same points as he did in his 2013 Esquire cover interview: that the world changes its relationship to you when you become famous but that you don’t necessarily change, and that he cultivates a boring persona which makes him uninteresting to tabloids and the paparazzi. Here are some quotes from The Guardian, and there’s much more at the source:
On being dull
I think people just leave a room I’m in and they’re like: Well that guy wasn’t a movie star.On the paparazzi leaving him and his family alone
You know, a guy who’s married happily with four kids is not quite a story. And so they’ll come back and they’ll take an occasional picture… but it’s kind of just updating the file.On winning an Oscar at 27
It was a really joyful experience. You wake up one morning and the world is entirely the same and you know, actually, all the things that mattered yesterday are the same today, except the world is forever going to be a totally different place for you.On fame
That’s the mind-f*ck and it takes a few years to even get your head around what’s happening… I remember my brother said: ‘How are you doing?’ And I was, like, ‘I’m the f*cking same, but everyone else is different.’On if he would let Ben Affleck direct him
Sure, if the right thing came along. I mean, he usually gives himself the main role in the thing he’s directing, so it would need to probably be a two-hander.On Robin Williams’s suicide
Peter Farrelly, who is a friend of mine, the director, he was talking about suicide and he said something really lovely, which was: ‘Whenever that happens to a friend of mine [suicide], I feel like they’re just in a house on fire and they have to get out.’ I hoped that it [Williams’s death] could lead to a wider discussion about mental health because if somebody that incredible and wonderful – just such a light – could be living with that, hopefully it could give other people permission to talk about this to people around them. So that at least something positive came out of something so horrible.On if it’s harder for actors to be openly gay
I’m sure. When Ben and I first came on the scene there were rumours that we were gay because it was two guys who wrote a script together.I know. It’s just like any piece of gossip… and it put us in a weird position of having to answer, you know what I mean? Which was then really deeply offensive. I don’t want to, like [imply] it’s some sort of disease – then it’s like I’m throwing my friends under the bus. But at the time, I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guy – more handsome than anybody, a classically trained actor – it’s tough to make the argument that he didn’t take a hit for being out.
On remaining mysterious as an actor
I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly. But in terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality because that’s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.
Is this true? Is Damon just a boring family man or does he control his image slavishly to the point where that’s the only thing he lets slip through? He does seem happily married, and he’s always gushed about his wife and kids. Incidentally, Damon has a new interview with USA Today where he does reveal some scant personal information. He says that his oldest daughter “just got her [driver’s] license yesterday” and revealed that he taught her to drive. Other than that the interview is focused on Damon’s career and his role in The Martian. He humble brags a little about memorizing the entire script before showing up on set, impressing director Ridley Scott. There’s also talk of an Oscar nomination for Damon.
Damon also did a Graham Norton interview with his costar, Jessica Chastain. Norton read some tweets about the ponytail Damon was sporting for The Great Wall. Damon revealed that the hair was made up of 6,0000 extensions. My favorite tweet: “Matt Damon I will use your ponytail to steer while you dine upon my lady sandwich.” Chastain was dying over that one.
Damon talked to Norton about winning an Oscar at 27. He got choked up explaining how that award changed his perspective at such a young age. “I literally looked at it… and I said to myself ‘Thank God I didn’t f*k anyone over for this…’ imagine chasing that and not getting it [until you’re at the end of your life] and imagining ‘what an unbelievable waste.’ If that’s a hole that you have that [Oscar] won’t fill it. My heart broke for a second.” I’m just a wee bit skeptical of this story, given Damon’s recent history with the press. He always tells the same stories and we’ve never heard this one before.
photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
I just realized that he’s essentially a budget Michael Owen (if Owen were an actor and not a soccer/football player).
how often did Michael Owen win the World Cup? I know its a sore topic but Matt Damon is obviously way more succesful.
He did win the Ballon d’Or and did really well for himself while at Liverpool. And he seems to be doing well with his post-soccer/football career. A shame about his injury issues.
(They have similar-ish physical features, both have a boring, good guy reputation despite being knobbish at times. Though Owen doesn’t seem to be as publically clueless about social issues.)
Or in your case, never talking. Hahaha…
I kid…I kid….
Unfortunately, his boring guy-next-door persona is all he ever plays, with only a few exceptions (Talented Mr. Ripley, Bourne–though many guys could have played Bourne). Eh.
God he was so good in Talented Mr. Ripley, which played off his boy-next-door persona to perfection. And I don’t agree about Bourne, because especially in that first movie, he brought real intelligence to the action hero role, which no one else was doing at the time. I also remember reading around the time of the first Bourne, an ex-CIA operative “reviewed” the movie (wish I could find the link but that was so long ago and before everything was catalogued on the internet), and he said all the CIA assassins look like Matt Damon. He said something like, “They’re clean cut, they’re good looking but not too handsome, fit but not bodybuilders. They’re the boy next door. They blend in. They look like Matt Damon.” That really stuck with me because the Hollywood idea of an assassin is usually a super handsome tall person who is yoked, but he was like, “No, they’re not flashy. They don’t stand out.” I specifically remember him saying that they weren’t even all that tall, on average, that most were just “average. Average height, average looks, average body, but very, very smart.” It was super creepy to me, that they recruit these guys specifically because they can blend in, but that ex-CIA agent was really impressed with Damon as Bourne, he said it was the most authentic movie assassin he’d seen.
fair enough, Algernon!
I love Damon as an actor and I think he was especially great in Talented Mr. Ripley and in the first Bourne (he was good in the other Bournes but I didn’t like those movies as much).
BUT I think he is humblebragging *all over* this entire interview!!! What is up with that line about how those poor other people who have a hole in their hearts b/c they didn’t win Oscars when they were 27 and so have to f**k people over and be bitter about it until they’re old (I’m paraphrasing)??? I mean, Paul Newman didn’t win till later in his life, same with Pacino, and there are a number of phenomenal actors and actresses and other kinds of film workers who *never* won, and I don’t think that’s any kind of reflection on their amazing careers or talent (O’Toole, Burton, Glenn Close, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, etc.).
I agree with everything you said here, Algernon. That’s pretty cool what that CIA assassin said. And I think that’s why Damon, being “boring” as he puts it, works in the role.
You might even say that the Bourne series was a game changer in this way for these types of films and characters. It also ever so slightly redefined masculinity in the movies, by making him everyguy-handsome yet rough around the edges, smart but not too suave, and tough – yet vulnerable (one of the reasons for Humphrey Bogart’s enduring popularity as well). That last piece is important as far as audiences feeling empathy for the character, and even though we know he’s going to get out of the situation, it’s what keeps us watching and wondering how.
And The Talented Mr. Ripley! Oh my gosh, he played a sociopath so well, surreptitious and very creepy, against Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s narcissists. Good film with great actors.
And when thinking of such personalities, I remember Gwyneth Paltrow’s line everytime: “The thing with Dickie…it’s like the sun shines on you, and it’s glorious. And then he forgets you, and it’s very, very cold.”
Did you honestly think CIA hired very memorable people beforehand?
IMO He is one of the best actors around. He was mesmorizing in The Talented Mr. Ripley and he was excellent in Liberace B.C.
I could watch Matt in anything. He is just a excellent actor.
Okay, now I want to watch all the Bourne movies! (Never seen them before.)
he’s right about “the less you know” stuff.
there are some actors/actresses that I can’t watch on screen anymore because I know too much about them and I either 1) hate them or 2) can’t see anybody BUT the actor up there.
I don’t go to the cinema to see Angelina, George Clonney, Aniston… these big names actors are such big celebrities that I can’t see the characters, I know too much about them and they don’t even change their looks convincingly either. And this has nothing to do with their acting ability.
I can watch A Mighty Heart, and never think for a minute that’s Angelina Jolie portraying Marianne Pearl.
Also, with Maleficent, Angie was so good, I wasn’t thinking that’s Angie, not Maleficent.
Sounds like ole Matt is a little jealous no one cares about him or his wife and kids.
Mighty Heart was the last film I saw from her and couldn’t get passed that she was Angelina Jolie. I don’t feel the same with Brad Pitt though. But there are more actors who I see more as actors and less as celebs and I guess that’s what makes the difference for me.
Very true.
Yet for promotions all the actors are forced to get out there and strut their private stuff, so that people WANT to see them.
If nobody knows an actor, nobody wants to see the movie. If people know too much about an actor, a lot of people also don’t want to see the movie because there will be something they don’t like about the actor as a person. For example, I think Chris Pratt hurt himself big time with all the Jurassic promotions.
This is between the rock and the hard place situation for all the actors.
I completely agree that promotions are needed but at the same time take away the mystery needed to “be” a character. But this is Hollywood, cultivating a celebrity persona even if based on who you are is part of the job. Actors who just do Independent films don’t have to promote like this, there’s no machine for it.
Yes this! It’s a Catch-22. They have to promote, and when they don’t openly share or tell funny anecdotes about their personal lives, they are accused of being difficult or jerks.
This is just one reason why I love live theatre; for most productions, any celebrity factor or public history involving the players (stunt casting aside) is nowhere near what it can be for cinema actors… and I feel a much more intimate relationship with the characters often comes easier without all that baggage to discard in the first place.
same. like chris pratt.
Yep, I think even lead actors, the ones who really take seriously what they do, would say that it’s better to be a character actor because they get more interesting parts, yet never have to carry the film.
I agree with this. If someone puts too much of their life out there and becomes as famous for that as their acting work, it’s harder for me to see the character. I think it’s something that happens when an actor gets a huge role and becomes a “movie star” too.
Agree.
I think I am the only weirdo who doesn’t buy his happy, perfect family man thing. It is completely irrational, but I just can’t shake the suspicion.
I agree about the actors being unknown however. I wonder if that is why, in part, long running tv series do so well, (Walking Dead, etc.,) the actors are unknown. Otherwise, for me anyways, I just see the Famous Person Pretending.
I feel the same way. I think it’s a case of “too good to be true”. He’s trying too hard to be perfect – the perfect friend, colleague, father, husband, professional… When somebody promotes this image, I become suspicious.
I agree. It’s constant, the happy family stuff. Plus it’s interesting, he doesn’t say “I’m not much of a story” he says “a guy who’s married happily with four kids is not quite a story”…that is a very calculated image.
If we doubt & criticize female celebs for pushing their romance selfies or Mom-PR, then we should side-eye him the same.
Also, a self-deprecating story is fine…but someone who is always cutting themselves down, saying they’re not much, etc, raises a red flag to me….it’s a bit protest too much, clearly they think they are all that. And aren’t authentic at all.
Not buying it at all. I’m waiting for something to happen with him tabloid wise. But on the other hand I hope I’m wrong.
Same here, funcakes, sorry to say.
I just came here to say I’m deeply surprised his oldest kid is old enough to drive. He has such an old soul yet such a young persona! I know, doesn’t make sense, but kinda does to me.
His oldest, is actually his stepdaughter,she was five or six when they got married.
Well, his oldest daughter is technically his step-daughter and was already several years old when he married her mother. But he doesn’t differentiate between his children, which I think is sweet, and he once got on an entertainment reporter who referred to his step-daughter and his daughters, and he was like, “No, they’re all my daughters.”
Which has always endeared him to me even more. The way he has always made it clear that he considers all the girls on the same level, that there is no difference between them to him – it just lights up a bit of my black, black heart every time.
Have you seen the older girl, cute girl, but she definitely had a black father or a dark Cuban father. She doesn’t “fit in” with the other girls, Matt’s daughters, so is rarely ever photographed with the family. I’ve always felt bad for her, she’s definitely the child who never fit in.
Lola, her father is Latin American, I believe. As for her not being photographed with the family, I think it’s because she’s much older than the next daughter, more independent now, and perhaps she prefers her privacy.
@Lola I don’t look much like anyone in my family other than my grandmother. It doesn’t mean I don’t fit in. Like laura in LA said, she’s older. And there are plenty of photos of her with her family. You’ve clearly seen them.
His oldest kid is technically his stepdaughter…….I THINK she was like 5 or 6 when Lucy and Matt got together. And that was like ten years ago….so she’s probably 14/15/16….old enough to get a permit at the very least.
I think his oldest child might not be biologically his but from his wife’s first marriage.
I like Ben’s interviews better. LOL
Me too.
Also, has Matt been ‘toxing? That forehead is looking mighty smooth all of a sudden.
(compare with second pic)
I don’t know about those photos. If he scrunched up his forehead, we’d probably see some lines. But when those ponytail photos were out there, his face looked abnormally tight and smooth to me, especially for a 45-year-old man.
Ben’s a funnier interview, also hilarious everytime he’s been on SNL…
I have to say, though, Matt on Late Night was understated but hilarious himself, why Letterman loved having him as a guest. He also seems to have a good time on Graham Norton, now one of my favorite celebrity shows.
(Both Ben and Matt are pretty charming, what more can anyone say.)
He was really dull on the latest Graham Norton on Friday. Clearly didn’t drink enough this time.
I just think he is savvy and thus everything about him is totally locked down – like Tommy Hiddlesburp. Public stuff will usually be “decent guy”, “does charity stuff” and the slip-ups will be rare. They’re both ambitious and sensible – not a mix of qualities common in Hollywood! Damon could be a lovely guy or he could be a horror. But we will never know.
He’s very savvy that way. You can be a good guy and have a good marriage. That doesn’t mean his marriage doesn’t have some big blow-ups or the years or didn’t hit a rough patch during a long-term marriage. We will just never hear about it, like most celeb couples, or even couples in our lives we know. And it’s not that she should know. He knows exactly how he wants to present himself and does so in interviews.
I have been stunned hearing about some issues and problems in marriages that never came out until a co-worker or neighbor or friend only began telling once the marriage fell apart. They appeared happy to my eyes.
Oops. Not that “we” should know.
Very savvy, very smart (Harvard), and very locked down but he went to a large local high school (same one that produced terrorist Djokar Tsarnaev) and there never seem to be any local stories about him being anything but a smart, decent kid. Although his track record with women before his wife was a bit messy.
I love how we don’t think Natalie Portman Is really all that smart despite the fact that she went and graduated from Harvard when this numb nut didn’t graduate. These two are from the same tree. Pretentious as all hell and believe they’re the best thing since sliced bread. At least Portman grew out of that. Make no mistake. Matty D has a huge ego and he wants to be big. all these people worry And say they don’t want to be this famous or whatever but it’s often bs. They like it. Especially someone who focuses on it so much ALL the DAMN TIME like Damon. Like dude do your job, say words, don’t throw shade at your friends and go home. THEN I’ll believe you. But it’s obvious he’s just worried and wants to be big still and frankly sounds just a tad bit jealous of his friends.
He’s just not good enough an actor or producer, writer, etc in comparison to Ben especially. He does a serviceable job as an actor and he should be happy he even gets to do that.
Hey, my mother went to Cambridge R&L! Watch what you say about it, Lilacflowers…
(Just kidding, but I didn’t know that Tsarnaev went there? Yikes.)
I guess I’m one of the few people who can know EVERYTHING about an actor, and that still not put me off. To me, you’re either a good actor, or you’re not. I either like you or your acting or I don’t. Has nothing to do with you. Like Sean Penn is an a-hole whose face simultaneously makes me want to throw up (because man he looks AWFUL nowadays) and punch him in the face because of his a-holeness. But he is an amazing actor. And while some of his latest choices have been crap…..I like a lot of his work.
IDK….I mean, we know everything about, say Leann Rimes. She’s constantly on twitter, on the tabloids, full of drama, etc. I’m not a huge fan of country music, but I think she has a really nice voice. But that’s not what ruined her career and why people stopped going to see her. She’s the one that decided to spend alll her time making sure her new husband didn’t cheat on her, and canceling concerts left and right.
I agree, a good actor can convince you no matter what. My problem is more actors who play the same character in every movie.
I can forget the person’s personal life if the actor is really talented. But that level of talent is pretty rare.
I think it’s easier for me to separate the personal life of a singer from his or her performing because they’re not playing a character for 2 hours. Ariana Grande could be spitting on every single donut, but I can forget that when she’s singing because the song only lasts 3 minutes. But I’m sure it would be harder for me to do this if I knew Matt Damon was spitting on donuts everywhere.
Well a better example–JLo. We all know allll about this dancer K-Fed that she apparently can’t let go of, even though he cheats on her and isn’t attractive. AT ALL.
I think, as an actress, she is okay. She’s one of those actors that has to have a strong cast and story. She generally has good chemistry with her costar, so that makes up for a lot…….I would basically prefer to watch her over Goop, for instance.
All I’m saying is–to me, personal life doesn’t matter. I think, in some cases, it’s a cop out. Their actual talent is irrelevant. You either like them or you don’t.
I think the deal with not so good actors what we know about too much ( take JLo in this example) – through the whole movie you are thinking, OK, here is JLo trying to be this or that. But you never forget it is actually JLo.
The same deal is with RDJ even, though he is supposedly an above average actor.
If I knew nothing about them I’d just assumed it is the character personality I am watching, and not theirs, and so it would’ve been more believable.
@EN
“If I knew nothing about them I’d just assumed it is the character personality I am watching, and not theirs, and so it would’ve been more believable.”
If I think that ^^^^ while I am watching a movie, every single one of their films…then that just tells me that a) they pick the same characters/movies over and over again, and b) they aren’t good actors.
And lol–with RDJ…..every film of his that I’ve seen post Ironman (most notably, “The Judge”) seems to be a reiteration of the Tony Stark, with the same mannerisms and attitude. I think he’s sold out, in the sense that he’s not really trying that hard anymore. His earlier films were a lot better and a lot more interesting…HE was a lot more interesting.
@ Virgilia
I finally saw The Judge (what kind of Lifetime Channel realness…) and I thought he was actually not that much like Tony Stark in that movie. But, Tony Stark is *such* a perfect match for RDJ’s charisma and energy, which are things universal to all his performances, that it’s become impossible to *not* see Tony in all his performances because that’s what makes Tony so identifiable with RDJ. You can go back to his older performances and see shades of Tony, like in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Zodiac or back further to stuff like his time on Ally McBeal or Two Girls and a Guy. There’s always been a certain spark in RDJ and that’s the thing that comes out strongly in Tony Stark, so now we see Tony in everything he does.
EN, so true…
This always reminds me of something Hank Azaria once joked about on late night TV, how in movie trailers, there’s that overly dramatic voiceover that says something like: “Maggie Carpenter…has a PROBLEM.”
But we don’t care about the character’s name (or her problem) because we all know it’s just Julia Roberts with Richard Gere again.
@VC I can know everything about an actor ,actress or musician and not be put off by them. I don’t think about their personal life or politics. Why would you?
Same here, same here. I find it weird people choose not to watch movies with actors they dislike as people because it means supporting their career. If (s)he’s talented and I generally like the stuff (s)he’s in, I’ll watch the movie. Sean Penn is a good example. Charlize is another one. I totally buy that she’s a snobby diva, but she’s a terrific actress with amazing pressence on screen.
I think what’s more damaging is when you become known for constantly playing a certain character. This happened to me with Steve Carrell. Love the guy, and he’s super talented. But I’m so used to see him play zany comedic characters, it’s hard to adjust to his more dramatic roles, as well as he plays them.
I agree with him. The less you know about the actor the more it is about the performance and less about the actor.
For example, you can’t watch Clooney or Paltrow and many others without thinking about their public persona.
Very good actors can overcome it, and make you forget about who they are – Brad Pitt, Leo DiCaprio and Depp in some cases. But it is difficult.
For most actors, the less public knows about them, the better.
Lol, I think Paltrow is TERRIBLE and beyond the Ocean’s films….Clooney has never made a film that I thought was worth tracking down and watching. I don’t think he’s a terrible actor, but he is very uninteresting to me.
> I think Paltrow is TERRIBLE and beyond the Ocean’s films
Yes, we can rephrase it for “bad and average” actors the less public knows about them , the better. Because, let’s face it, most of them tend to be playing themselves over and over anyway and when they try something different it is not believable.
This is true for me for most of the big Hollywood names; I just see for instance a George Clooney acting in a film, not a character pulling me into a story. That said, there are two Clooney films I like: Good Night and Good Luck (because he has a small part than the rest of the awesome cast), and Burn After Reading (again because other, more talented actors carry the film).
@Hawkeye
I mean, I think George Clooney is very smug and well aware that he is famous. He comes off as very forced to me. Forced charm. Which would be fine…..if he was actually interesting in his films. He’s not–to me. Unless the story, the script, the cast, the direction is interesting……I am not interested in seeing his films, because he is so uninteresting in them. I can’t even really say he’s playing the same characters over and over again…but to me it’s like he puts in the same amount of energy into them, no matter who he’s playing.
@Virgilia, I know what you mean! He isn’t very captivating on screen for me either. The problem for me is that he doesn’t disappear into a role very well (someone who did? Philip Seymour Hoffman). I don’t get sucked into a story by George Clooney acting.
@Hawkeye
YES. So if he was as amazing an actor as he thinks he is–then I would be cutting him a lot more slack on the “Amal is the bestest”….but since he isn’t, and I think he is massively overrated and not even a freaking movie star to begin with i.e. Tomorrowland……..
But I am also weirdly picky about films….I like actors who have a lot of charisma and make crappy directing or scripts work. Like I think Joaquin Phoenix is AMAZINGLY talented. Like amazing. But I’ve seen most of his films. And I don’t like 90% of them. As in I will never watch them again, because I was SO bored.
So in that sense–I kind of eye roll when people talk about amazing character actors. Just a little. Because personally, I think a few of these amazing character actors (just thinking of one or two specific ones)……they have one or two great roles that they stand out in, and then the rest fade into obscurity……but they’re considered AMAZING because of those one or two roles. LOL.
As I posted on another thread, Clooney was at his very best in Syriana…
But of course, he had to lose the charm and play it serious, gaining all that weight and seriously injuring his spine, something that made him consider suicide and still pains him to this day.
Charlize Theron is another great example of this method, putting on weight for Monster, a defining role in her career.
And Matt himself lost a lot of weight for Saving Private Ryan, such that Spielberg didn’t recognize him, but of course, he was much younger then, and it was what he had to do to get noticed.
Christian Bale did it for The Machinist, but then he had to put weight back on for Batman, I think, then take it off again for The Fighter, not easy for anyone nearing 40.
So if that’s what it takes to really disappear in roles, the toll on their health and personal lives, especially as they get older, is probably not worth it.
Lololololololol at “use your ponytail to guide you while you dine on my lady sandwich”.
Rupert Everett is a terrible example. First, many many great British actors are unable to cross over into the States, even after initial buzz. who knows why. Second, Rupert couldnt help being a terrible person and he burned bridges with his most powerful supporters on both sides of the Atlantic. Had he been an aclaimed actor or a big box office draw, he would have survived but to act the diva when you are neither is career suicide for anybody. So perhaps competing for Hugh Grant type roles was an uphill battle once he came out, but its his own fault he wasnt even in contention for Colin Firth character driven roles.
I agree. Everett’s bad-mouthing and lack of talent have more to do with his lack of long-term success than his being gay.
Yeah I always thought the word on Rupert was that he was a nightmare to work with, and after a while, no one wants to put up with that and the roles go away. Plus…bad surgery.
It’s quite possible that I can’t simply stand the guy, but he’s so effing annoying with his humble bragging and subtle digs. He’s like subtle shade queen. After good will hunting he was a big deal and a heart throb. And his Jason Bourne series too. Honestly. I think he’s jealous of Affleck. They both went into the producing, writing, and the directing game. Bens way more successful at it and I think it annoys Damon. What with him ALWAYS trying to appeal to middle America, throwing subtle shade at his friends (Ben giving himself the lead etc), and just his demeanor in general. It’s like he’s trying to reassure himself that he’s still famous but choosing not to be crazy huge or that whatever. It’s just the vibe I get from him.
I know he is shady as well.I am surprised he didn’t name drop other celebs in this interview.He usually does.
LOL, yes! Should he get a gold star, this time, for not bringing up Brad and Angelina?
He seems to love to throw subtle shade at have so called friends to make his self seem better in comparison in the eyes of the public. In every interview he has to remind the public how “normal” he is, I can’t tell if he jealous of his friends or he just thinks he better then them.
He give Goop a run for her money when it comes to name dropping, he seems to be a less pretentious version of Goop in that aspect.
this!!!
he’s constantly throwing shade, especially on Affleck.
It was a joke (and the reporter took it as such). Of course Ben wants to be the star in his films, even though he is not a great actor.
Mmm, I think this has always been the dynamic between Matt n’ Ben or Ben n’ Matt as the case may be. (Is it depending on who has the most Oscars now? Haha.)
According to interviews early in their careers, Matt was even a bit envious of Ben’s acting success when they met as kids. But like most longterm friendships, as I’ve learned in recent years, this dynamic and our differences only become truly apparent as we enter our 40s.
I do believe that knowing too much about about a creative person that makes things ruins it for me. Actors, writers, musicians… Because it stops being about the thing they did and just about who did it and there’s usually a big possibility for disappointment and “noise” that comes from it. I love character actors on tv bc they are SO GOOD and I know nothing about them. For me they are those characters and that’s it.
But with films I guess only a few can get away with the mystery thing bc promotional work will basically make it impossible.
I agree with him. Its one of the reasons why actors like Day lewis are so effective.
A person trying to get out of a house being on fire is a great analogy about suicide.
It really is.
thats also why people still think fondly of old Hollywood. you did not know much about the people, there were not thousands of sites that needed to be filled 24/7.
im sure you can be private as an actor but then you cant do bigger movies.
for Matt: someone who is so smug about “just being a family man” sounds shady to me. its like “i dont beat my wife”. why would you point it out like that if its so normal for you?
what seperates Matt from others is that he probably does not do incredibly stupid stuff (sleeping with reality stars that want to be in the tabloids, doing hardcore drugs) and is better at keeping things on the down low.
then again just by chance there should be a handful people in Hollywood who are moral.
That’s one of my pet peeves about Matt if your so normal then be it stop telling us in every interview how normal you are. Because it give the impression that you are hiding something that you may not be.
As for old Hollywood not true, Marilyn, Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Errol Lynn, Ingrid Bergman live we’re all over the newspapers and the list goes on and on and people still think fondly of them and are obsessed with them.
Old Hollywood was just as bad. Probably worse. Throwing pills at child stars to keep them energized and working. Micromanaging the lives of their stars. Everything was an illusion. It’s just now you have a 24/7 newscycle instead of waiting for your weekly magazine or the one hour a day (or whatever) the news came on.
This piece sounds like secret, shady advice for Damon’s number 1 fan, Bendy. Poor Bendy. Taco flavored kisses for my Ben!
Whoa…is it just me or is there some passive-Affleck shaming here? “You know, a guy who’s married happily with four kids is not quite a story.” and “I mean, he usually gives himself the main role in the thing he’s directing, so it would need to probably be a two-hander.”
Nope. It’s not just you. He does this all the time. It’s like he can’t help himself.
Yeah, the “two-hander” thing, what does that even mean? I defended Matt as not shading Ben on another thread, but he’s sounding more passive-aggressive to me here…
Ben’s success as a writer/director/producer/actor with his last three films just shows that his ability and success is not a fluke. And since Will was somewhat based on his own father, maybe Ben actually was the one who did the majority of the writing on Good Will Hunting?
Who knows, that’s a never-ending debate. Anyway, Aaron Stockard seems to be Ben’s go-to screenwriting partner now, though maybe that’s also because Matty D’s too busy.
@laura in LA Exactly. That is a major reason why I think Affleck is far more talented than his friend here and why I think matty d tries to cut down affleck quite a bit (all the damn time) in his interviews. He’s jealous of his friends great success. I suspect he liked the train wreck aspect of Affleck because it made him Matt feel better about himself as an artist and person because I believe that Affleck did do the heavy lifting in writing good will. Matts just lucky he was his friend. It’s like he’s reassuring himself constantly that “it’s okay you’re not that famous you can still have your privacy. Pat yourself on the back for doing that. You’re number one Matty. You’re amazing. All these people actually do desire to be YOU!” It’s like his apology. He ALWAYS has to reinterpret something so that HE looks better or so that it looks like what HE did was deliberate. This jackass has one ginormous ego.
I really dislike how smug this guy is. And omg I am living for his foot in mouth disease. I did not read his sexuality bit earlier but lmao is this white mans cis straight privilege showing. What an idiot.
I can remember assuming that Damon really won the GWH oscar and Affleck was just a hanger on, but it is now clear that behind the camera Affleck is the star. I don’t rate Affleck as an actor, but he has the advantage of casting himself in his own films, which are rather good, and he has the good sense to surround himself with top notch supporting actors. As an actor Damon is much better, but I still consider him as more reliable than great.
I usually laugh at Matt, you don’t just act boring, you’re.
Oh I’m raising my family in Maimi away from the paps, next he move to NYC and still no attention, the guy could walk around Times Sqaure and the Paps’ still can’t get a buyer for his pictures.
Now he is back in LA popping out to known Paps’ hangout restaurants.
Never have liked him, but you know what he’d be perfect for? The role of Jim Bob Duggar. Check out pics and you’ll see it too.
All I care about here is “lady sandwich” tweet. OMG I am dyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyinggggggggggg
Yup frenemies for sure
I thought Ben was set to direct Matt in a movie or I had read that a while ago. I looked it up. I was right. Ben and Matt were going to produce and co-star in a movie based on Whitey Bulger. Ben was going to direct it. I think Matt was going to be the lead in it. They had been developing it for a couple of years and Aaron Stockard had just turned in a rewrite on the script. Warner Brothers were very happy with the script and then crickets. Then they informed them they were going with another Whitey Bulger movie with Johnny Depp. Naturally, Ben and Matt were not happy with all that effort put into it. Interesting article. The in ands outs of getting movies made is fascinating to me.
http://deadline.com/2014/02/warner-bros-finds-johnny-depp-as-mobster-whitey-bulger-an-offer-it-cant-refuse-691080/
Whoa! I thought the Aaron/Ben/Matt Whitey movie was still a go, but to hear that after all WB has invested in Ben and all he’s done for them, they went with a bunch of outsiders for Black Mass instead?
So disappointing. I was really looking forward to that version, imagine how much better it would’ve been.
I didn’t realize the Johnny Depp movie came out already this month on the 18th, Black Mass. Johnny got great reviews. The movie itself got good to decent reviews by the critics for the most part, a 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a strong box office the first week and then had a big drop the second week. It definitely wasn’t heralded up there in The Departed or Goodfellas upper tier as far as reviews by critics.
Matt addressed their version in an interview that just came out today. It sounds interesting. I would love to see them work together again and Ben direct Matt. Maybe one day their movie can be revisited by WB as far as making since it comes from a different perspective. Plus, this type genre of movie is right up Ben’s alley as far as directing and the Boston locale.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/09/28/matt-damon-says-his-and-afflecks-whitey-bulger-movie-wouldve-been-the-unforgiven-of-gangster-films
Thanks for that interview, Jayna, I’ll have to read it…
Yeah, maybe WB will revisit this in a few years, and hopefully it will be better with time to develop it. Or perhaps Ben/Aaron/Matt have too much going on now as it is, though I’m sure the three of them could make it better than anyone else. And not that Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate is the last word, but all three of Ben’s movies have scored over 90%.
Anyway, I’m reading Live By Night right now and just got my Blu-ray copy of The Town, so even though I said a month or so ago that I’m not a superfan, I think I’ve strangely become one.
wow, can’t believe how many dislike him here.
i like him. he always comes across as intelligent and witty. and he has a point about the less you know about an actor, the more credible they are in their roles. most of my favourite actors are completely absent from social media and are fairly low-key.
also i think that when he says boring he means “normal”; normal isn’t going to feed the tabloids.
I don’t like or dislike him I just find his “I’m mister normal” annoying and sh*ty that he throws shade at his BFF Ben (who I don’t like) to make his self seem better.
Matt and is family are photographed a lot more then he leads on. The Main site just don’t post them, but they are out there.
I like Matt. He’s turned in some great performances. He does name drop, but I think he’s a great guy for the most part. I will always favor Ben, because he’s a bit of a mess. He’s very flawed and kind of tortured, but kind of brilliant in his directing. I find him interesting because the huge right turn his career has taken directing-wise and script writing after being written off. I really like these guys together as best friends and how they’ve endured in such a cut-throat business and supported each other. That’s the most interesting thing about them, to me, their 30-year friendship and how they both are still successful.
Jayna, me, too. From now on, I’ll always have a soft-spot for Ben…
Like the Red Sox themselves, no matter how much success he achieves, he never lets himself forget that he was the underdog for so long. Yet after rewatching some of his films in recent months and comparing them with some of my all-time favorites, I’m pretty amazed by what he’s done.
He’s obviously extremely versatile and talented, also probably one of the nicest people in Hollywood, but deeply insecure and flawed. It seems like the drinking and self-deprecation are his way of beating himself up about it, so sad to see.
(And that WB didn’t give him the Whitey movie? Big mistake. Huge!)
I go back and forth on Damon. My body thinks he’s hot and I really like him as an actor but I’m with those who thinks he can be shady. He makes passive-aggressive digs all the time and name drops and there are times he just comes off as arrogant.
About the whole “hiding one’s sexuality” thing, that’s easy for him to say because he’s straight, but for gays or bi people to hide there sexuality they’d have to never acknowledge their same sex partner and make an effort to never be seen with them not just on the red carpet, but also out and about by paps. Keeping one’s sexuality a mystery isn’t just about not talking about your sex life in interviews. If he really believed that straight people should hide their sexuality he’d never bring his wife to movie premieres or talk about her in anyway, but I figure he only throw in that straight people should hide their sexuality to not come off as homophobic. Also, how is hiding going to remove the stigma so that people will accept that one can play all kinds of roles and be gay?
I thought the same thing.
I agree, it’s easier for someone straight to say this, but maybe we all need to get over knowing about someone’s sexual orientation.
How many of us here on these threads have speculated on Damon, Clooney, DiCaprio and Cooper as if it matters in the roles they play on-screen? Guilty here, or maybe most of Hollywood’s Bi, but it’s no wonder more don’t come out and admit to anything, and why should they? Sometimes it seems to me the old Hollywood studio system of setting up contract relationships, creating pap opportunities, also demanding loyalty from its stars, is more alive and well now than ever.
Having said all that, I think actors like Neil Patrick Harris have the best chance of challenging these assumptions and still maintaining their private lives which should not be up for question.
I agree, that aspect of it didn’t sit right with me. No one should have to hide who they are. There’s a big difference between not parading your kids for paparazzi and red carpets and sharing every moment on social media, and having to hide your sexuality and never bring a partner or spouse to an event.
The problem he’s stating is that it’s harder for gay actors to get straight roles, right? Well, that’s not going to go away by everyone hiding everything, it’s going to change by gay actors coming out and persisting in their careers, and audiences supporting them, and studios maybe finally not worrying about it anymore.
I admit it.
I have a crush on Matt Damon.
I LOVE seeing photos of him, his wife, his kids.
I LOVE that they met at her bar.
He does not appear like the typical hollywood male star. He seems to be a good dad for one. Keeps his life private which I respect. I LOVE his acting, all his movies. Talented Mr. Ripley one of my favorites, but nothing will ever beat Good Will Hunting which hubs and I stumbled into accidentally.
And close behind are the Bourne movies. A stiff still violent character that you love to watch. That IS hard to do.
Great actor.
I remember the first time we saw him, in Courge Under Fire and it was amazing how he disappeared in that role. He’s such a fine actor, love him.
Matt has told the Oscar night story a few times before. It’s not new.
Like my mother has always said “beware of the quiet ones, they are often the most dangerous and often have a lot to hide”
It’s reads more creepier than its meant to be
True though!
“He got choked up explaining how that award changed his perspective at such a young age. “I literally looked at it… and I said to myself ‘Thank God I didn’t f*k anyone over for this…’ imagine chasing that and not getting it [until you’re at the end of your life] and imagining ‘what an unbelievable waste.’ If that’s a hole that you have that [Oscar] won’t fill it.”
Can’t argue with that. I always got the impression that Natalie Portman felt that way after her Oscar win and has been trying to get her soul back ever since. I don’t really get the hype around Oscars or box office numbers. I’ve never been convinced that those things are proof of a film’s quality.