Jason Bourne (2016) star Matt Damon divulged the on-set deal that he made with stuntmen throughout the course of the trilogy. The Bourne franchise, according to Damon, pushed him to discover his hidden fighting talents.
Twenty-one years ago, The Bourne Identity was released and Matt Damon spoke with Diane Sawyer and told her that director Doug Liman ordered him to hit the gym after six months of extensive talks.
Damon took martial arts and weapons training for the film. Despite that, he was afraid of accidentally punching his co-stars in the face and made a deal that turned out to be an expensive one.
Nine years after the events of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Damon came back for another outing and tried to sell his deal to Vincent Cassel.
Matt Damon Told James Corden He Isn’t A Good Fighter
Appearing on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2016, Matt Damon joked about his fighting skills. He said that he had been doing a little bit of boxing “for fun.”
“You have a deal with your stuntmen, right?” – asked Corden. “Yes,” replied Damon. “Explain, tell everyone what the deal is.”
“Yeah, so, we do these fights for all these movies, and… and they are really good fighters. And I’m… Me, not so much,” [Damon] chuckled. “So, I like to box, you know, for fun, and I have been doing it for a few decades. But, I usually end up accidentally punching them.”
He continued his funny practice until the fourth film had him come across Vincent Cassel who, according to Damon, was a hard nut to crack.
Vincent Cassel Declined Matt Damon’s Expensive Deal
Even though it was an experience Damon may never forget, he sure can make his audience laugh. Monica Bellucci’s ex-husband Vincent Cassel is a professional fighter who found his way into acting.
Starring alongside Matt Damon in Jason Bourne, Vincent Cassel told Damon to keep his deal. But, what exactly is this deal anyway?
Damon told Corden –
“So my deal with them, it started on the first movie. I told the first guy that I fought with in The Bourne Identity, that, for every time I accidentally punch you in the face, I’ll buy you a bottle of champagne. And the guy was a professional kickboxer from France, so he was like, ‘This is a very good deal for me.’ So I owed him a case of champagne, that’s 12 bottles. So, in this one, I fight Vincent Cassel, the great French actor. He is a talented martial artist, and he had no interest in my champagne. He was like, ‘Matt, just do not hit me in the face.’”
Matt Damon teased his fans in a July 2016 BBC News interview that if Paul Greengrass wanted to go for another one, he might consider it.
He will next be seen alongside Pedro Pascal in Drive-Away Dolls, set for February 23, 2024 release.
Source: The Late Late Show with James Corden
