Entertainment News

Matt Damon explains why he hasn't acted in a Ben Affleck movie

BY DEREK LAWRENCE • @DLAW1988


(George Kraychyk)


Over his career Matt Damon has taken on the U.S. government, outer space, Las Vegas casinos, and a virus that wiped out much of the world, but on Monday he took on what might be the scariest challenge yet — Reddit.

Ahead of the July 29 release of Jason Bourne, Damon participated in a Reddit AMA (“ask me anything”) to answer questions from fans. Among the hot topics discussed: Why he it took him so long to return to the Bourne franchise, when he will work with Ben Affleck again, and who his favorite costar of all time is. Here are the highlights:


1. Why he hasn’t been in a Ben Affleck movie

The two are both really busy, but it’s mainly Ben’s fault.
Good Will Hunting obviously is the most influential movie in my life, and in Ben's life, and bringing it to the screen kind of dominated our 20s. It took 5 years to get it from the time we started to the time it came out, it took 5 years. So I would love to write another script with Ben; I love Ben, I love his work, he's been my buddy for 35 years. The big issue is time for us. We have a company together so we work on a lot of projects together, but to try to carve out the time is really tough. I mean we both have a whole mess of kids now, and these other days jobs. He's directing all the time and I'm off working with these other directors. The thing about Good Will Hunting is that we were unemployed and we weren't writing the script on a deadline either. Nobody was expecting it, so we were just these two idiots in our basement writing this thing, and now we have all of these pressures of the lives grownups have. So I would never say never because I would absolutely love to write with Ben again, and I'd love to collaborate with him on anything, he's brilliant. I'd love to be in one of his movies that he directs. The problem there is that he just keeps giving himself the best roles, so until he stops doing that and maybe just directs, none of us can really work with him.


2. Why it took so long to return to Bourne

He was waiting on director Paul Greengrass and a good enough story.
It was an easy decision. Once Paul Greengrass said he wanted to do it, I was in, but we didn't have a story. I mean it was nine years in the making because we didn't want to force it if it wasn't there, and so once we realized it was there we all jumped on board, but before that it was an agonizing process as we tried to figure out if there even was a story to tell.


3. The best actor he’s ever worked with

He’s worked with some heavyweights, but Damon says Casey Affleck is quite the talent.
That's a really tough question because I've worked with so many really wonderful people, people who I admire a lot and become friends with. Choosing one would be really tough but I have to say, going back in my career, Casey Affleck is one of the best actors that I've ever seen in my life. Growing up with him, he's 5 years younger than me, he's kind of like a little brother to me, but watching his work develop over the years has been really fun. There's a movie that I produced that's coming out called Manchester by the Sea. I'm as proud of that as anything I've ever been a part of. Casey is the lead in that movie, Kenny Lonergan directed it, and Casey is absolutely brilliant in that movie. I'm really proud to see what the world thinks of this movie, it's a beautiful little movie.


4. About that Team America portrayal…

Damon wasn’t ecstatic about the way he came off in the film from the South Park creators.
I was always kind of bewildered by Team America, I think because it's hard for us to understand what our images are in public, I think we're not good judges of that, and when I saw myself on screen just only able to say my own name and not really that well, I kind of wondered "Wow, is that how people perceive me?" At that point I just kind of was like, I'm a screenwriter and an actor, and like really? I can barely say my own name? So I was always bewildered by that, and I never talked to Trey and Matt about that. And Incidentally, I believe those two are geniuses, and I don't use that word lightly. I think they are absolute geniuses, and what they've done is awesome and I'm a big fan of theirs, but I never quite understood that one. But I will say this. Those of us who were parodied in that video were parodied because we were against the Iraq war, and we went on the record against that war, and so history is on my side not theirs.


5. On working with Robin Williams

He fondly looks back on his time working on Good Will Hunting with the late actor.
First of all, why does your costume look like it cost more then mine in the martian? That's an awesome costume and I agree you do. I'm glad that I make halloween easier for you. Working with Robin almost defies description. He was one of the most generous, loving, wonderful people I've ever met. He had this capacity that I've never seen on a movie set. When everyone started to get tired and started to flag a little bit, he would launch into standup. We knew it was original because he was making fun of crew members and pulling them into these bits. It was like 15 minutes of the best stand-up ever that was just privately for us. Everyone would laugh and laugh and laugh and then everybody would get this boost of energy and go back to work. I'll never be able to thank him enough for what he gave us. In my heart, that's where he is, as this person that I'm deeply deeply grateful came into my life and changed it for the better.


6. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Jason Bourne himself weighs in on the heated debate.
I've never considered a hot dog a sandwich because a hot dog is a hot dog. I mean technically it comes between 2 pieces of bread or one fold it into two, so I guess you can classify it as a sandwich. Then what would you call it, a hot dog sandwich? That's like a hat on a hat so let’s just keep it as a hot dog.


Jason Bourne hits theaters on July 29.