Matt Damon is one of the most talented and famous actors at the moment. His work in Oppenheimer has been absolutely beautiful to the extent of sheer skill being emitted from his role. His range in acting has been one which can only be fawned upon. From a growing actor to the one the big celebrity he is now, Damon has come a long way.
Despite his progress in the industry, his fame was not what Steven Speilberg saw in Damon when he was hiring him for his iconic movie. Saving Private Ryan was one of his most successful movies and it had a great amount of stories that surfaced because of what all the actors had to go through to perfect their roles. However, Spielberg was not exactly looking for Damon when he wanted to cast the titular character.
Steven Spielberg Did Not Want A Famous Actor For Matt Damon’s Role
Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is one movie that has a star-studded cast. From Tom Hanks to Vin Diesel, the director was not hesitant in casting big names for his film. However, one role that he was sure could only go to a smaller actor was the titular role, Private Ryan. The director had a big knack for accuracy with regard to the movie because of how he wanted to honor American soldiers.
“An unknown actor with an All-American look.”
The actor was initially hired because he represented what an average American man would look like. Casting an unknown actor for the same would have been the ideal choice and when he did choose the actor, Matt Damon was not very well known. However, he had just done Good Will Hunting, the movie that would turn his career for the better. He was no longer a nobody, instead, he became a superstar and an Oscar winner. This changed Spielberg’s entire vision for Private Ryan.
Steven Spielberg Made The Cast of the Movie Hate Matt Damon
Steven Spielberg made the entire cast of Saving Private Ryan go through intense military training so that they could understand the tip of the iceberg of what it is to be a soldier. They were all unable to get through the training and almost decided to quit, had it not been for Tom Hanks interfering. However, one actor who was exempted from the training was Matt Damon.
It was not that he did not need the training, but how it would affect other actors to see him be treated better than the rest of them were. Their resentment was something he wanted to materialize in the film and Spielberg found Damon’s exclusion from the training the best way to do so.
Source: Screen Rant
