From Good Will Hunting to The Martian, Matt Damon has won us over as a movie star in Hollywood. Damon is noted for his clean-cut good looks and intelligent performances, but many of the finest actors like him working today have lent their talents to inferior projects. For Damon, there’s a film he appeared several years back that turned out to be a bad flick.
One of those films was the 2016 flop The Great Wall, which Damon confessed he knew was bound to fail. He learned that iconic Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou was sacrificing his vision, which would impact the movie as a whole.
Did Matt Damon Fell Into Depression Because of The Great Wall?
Matt Damon once recalled when he “fell into a depression” while doing a project that was not what he “hoped it would be.”
Without naming any particular movie, he said during an interview with the YouTube channel Jake’s Takes:
“Sometimes you find yourself in a movie that you know, perhaps, might not be what you had hoped it would be, and you’re still making it.”
Damon continued:
“And I remember halfway through production and you’ve still got months to go and you’ve taken your family somewhere, you know, and you’ve inconvenienced them, and I remember my wife pulling me up because I fell into a depression about like, what have I done?”
The Great Wall was released in theaters in 2016 and follows the story of a European mercenary (Damon) who is captured and imprisoned inside the Great Wall of China. There he discovers people who are fighting an army of ancient beasts. He helps them compete against these mysterious creatures, dropping his goal of getting rich.
The Great Wall had all the good elements – a good cast and a hefty budget. Sadly, the movie didn’t turn out to be great. The film faced criticism due to its white savior storyline and received negative reviews from almost everyone. It wasn’t an awful idea, but having a big star like Damon against the exciting backdrop of ancient China seemed full of promises.
Why Does Matt Damon Regret Doing The Great Wall?
In an interview with Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, by The Hollywood Reporter, Damon said he knew the film would flop. When the studio interfered with the vision of director Zhang Yimou, he realized it was going to fail, stating:
“I was like, this is exactly how disasters happen … It doesn’t cohere. It doesn’t work as a movie.”
Damon later said about his experience in the film:
“I am definitely going to die here, but I’m doing it. That’s as shitty as you can feel creatively, I think. I hope to never have that feeling again.”
The Great Wall may have been a disaster, but it would not be fair to blame Damon. He did genuine work and likely made the movie better than it would have been in anyone else’s hands. Damon’s role in the film is evidence of those great actors who often know when they’re in the middle of making something terrible.
Also read: Matt Damon was Originally Considered for Marvel Role in $179M Disaster Before His BFF Ben Affleck
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
