Matt Damon has done some incredible movies over the years. Being married to Luciana Barroso since 2005, the couple has often indulged in couples therapy (which is kind of fun for the duo). Talking about his active Hollywood career, Matt Damon revealed that he wanted to take a break from acting.
Promising his wife that he will not return back to acting, Damon revealed that he did ask for one favor from his wife. The Martian actor revealed that there was a single exception from his retirement and that was if Christopher Nolan called him up to work alongside him.
Matt Damon Had An Exception For His Hollywood Break
Before Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was released, Matt Damon had made a promise to his wife Luciana Barroso that he’d take a break from acting. Citing various reasons for this break, the couple even attended couples’ therapy to talk their points out.
During one of those couples’ therapy sessions, Matt Damon stated that during his Hollywood break, there’d be an exception. He was indeed willing to take a break from Hollywood but that rule nullifies if veteran director Christopher Nolan offered him a role. The actor had previously worked alongside the director back in 2014 in Interstellar but that was a minor role. Now, the actor was presented with the opportunity to star as Gen. Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer and he wasn’t going to pass it up.
“This is going to sound made up, but it’s actually true. I had — not to get too personal — negotiated extensively with my wife that I was taking time off…I actually negotiated in couples therapy — this is a true story — the one caveat to my taking time off was if Chris Nolan called.”
The actor further revealed that he did not know that Christopher Nolan was actually working on Oppenheimer during that time since he just calls actors out of the blue.
“this [talk] is without knowing whether or not he was working on anything, because he never tells you. He just calls you out of the blue. And so, it was a moment in my household.”
During his talks, the actor also revealed that before joining Oppenheimer, Matt Damon was going through a lot. Stating that he wasn’t able to take time off at all, Damon also revealed the dark side of Hollywood and that he fell into depression because of it.
When Matt Damon Fell Into A Depression
In an interview, the Good Will Hunting actor revealed that there were some projects when he wanted to quit halfway through. Stating that he wasn’t able to do so because of legal reasons, Damon eventually fell into a depression while his family saw him slipping into that dark phase.
“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 it — like, ‘What have I done?'”
Luckily for Damon, Luciana Barroso pulled him out of it by staying by his side and Christopher Nolan called him out of the blue to offer the role of Gen. Leslie Groves. The Matt Damon starrer Oppenheimer is currently screening in theaters across the world.
Source: People
