The fully female-star-studded spin-off of the highly successful Ocean’s trilogy almost comprised a cameo from the franchise’s most notable star. Among the other A-listers, including Brad Pitt and George Clooney, Matt Damon too left a substantial impact on the franchise through the role of Linus Caldwell.
And according to reports, The Martian star almost made an appearance in the 2018 spin-off and would’ve been the connecting link between the mainline franchise and the spin-off. However, things took a turn after the actor found himself in a severe controversy.
Matt Damon’s controversial remarks made fans petition for the deletion of his Ocean’s 8 cameo
After Matt Damon‘s controversial remarks about the #MeToo movement and Harvey Weinstein surfaced on the internet, the actor found himself surrounded by extreme backlash. The actor’s comment about not all s*xuel abuse “belong in the same category” wasn’t received well, with many calling the actor’s comments “thoughtless and sexist.” This backlash ultimately led to fans petitioning to cut the actor’s filmed cameo from Ocean’s 8, as Damon later came forward to address the issue and apologize for his remarks. He stated,
“A lot of those women are my dear friends, and I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change…but I should get in the backseat and close my mouth for a while.”
Although Matt Damon’s cameo didn’t make it to the final cut with many believing that it was a result of the backlash, director Gary Ross gave a more contrasting reason behind the cameo’s exclusion.
Director Gary Ross revealed the real reason behind the exclusion of the cameos
Alongside Matt Damon, Carl Reiner also filmed cameos for Sandra Bullock‘s movie, which also didn’t make it past the editing room. However, despite many believing that it was a result of the controversy surrounding Damon, Gary Ross had a different reason behind excluding these cameos. The director explained that the cameos didn’t naturally fit with the film’s storyline and would’ve appeared forced, as he claims it was the only reason behind their exclusion. He stated,
“[Picking the cameos] is an eclectic process of: how does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding? This, more than any movie I’ve done, had a really copious editorial process where you play with stuff; you find stuff. There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn’t make it in and some who did.”
Both the actor and film were able to bounce off the controversy, with Matt Damon finding his footing in the industry back and the Bullock-led film also made around $298M at the box office.
Ocean’s 8 is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: BuzzFeed
