Matt Damon is a pretty big name in Hollywood. The actor/screenwriter has made his prominence in the industry with several blockbusters and critical hits working with several top-notched Hollywood directors. Damon also has been one of the highest-grossing actors as his movies collectively made over $3.88 billion at the North American box office alone.
Although the actor has been a part of several action movies including his $1.637 billion Bourne franchise, the actor ventured out of action roles many times, appearing as astronauts in Interstellar or The Martian and taking up several dramatic roles across genres made him a versatile actor capable of proving his prowess. But sometimes, he’s also picky.
Matt Damon Stepped Away From Acting Once
Everything does not go smoothly for all, even Matt Damon had a tough time, at least for a little while. Reportedly, the actor did not appear in movies for a year. Although the first six months of his sabbatical were intentional, it was hard for him to find the work he desire in the later six months. “The first six months was intentional because we moved from New York to LA, so just to be around the kids for that transition I took time off,” Damon told Collider once.
“And then I couldn’t find anything that I wanted to do. I mean you see what’s out there…it’s tough. The movies that have really been my bread and butter for twenty years, they don’t make them anymore. They really don’t.”
The Bourne actor further revealed that it was very hard to find a good script to be in as the industry is constantly changing. The trend of big-budget Hollywood was also in the air while good content are migrating to television. A lot of that stuff is migrating to television. “They’re more apt to take a huge risk on a high concept idea than on a kitchen sink drama or something,” Damon said.
“When this came along, I went ‘how many of these movies will I be able to really do that I’ll like, that are original and aren’t just a knockoff of something else?’” Damon added to his concern.
But Damon’s comeback was huge, his role as the stranded astronaut on Mars has been successful as the movie went on to earn over $488 million worldwide.
Matt Damon’s Grand Return in Ridley Scott’s The Martian
Damon knew that Ridley Scott’s The Martian will be a fine inclusion of title to his resume. When he received the script of the movie at 7 pm on a Friday, reportedly, Damon committed to the role just in the morning, taking less than a day to decide. Talking about landing on the film, the actor said that he went to meet Scott whom he never met before. “I went into meet him [Ridley Scott], and then that was the thing that happened really quickly because I went in to have this meeting him,” Damon said.
“The first thing I said was ‘my only hesitation is, I love this script, but I just did Interstellar and I played a dude who like was stranded on a planet by himself, and it might be weird if I take a year and a half off and then play a dude stranded on a planet.’ And I explained the movie to him and he was like ‘the movies are totally f*cking different. This is gonna be f*cking fun. Let’s do this!’ It’s kind of that infectious thing…I couldn’t really say no to him.”
The actor further went on to say that The Martian was the “biggest movie I’ve ever been on.”
The Martian won several accolades including seven Oscar nominations. The movie received two Golden Globes including best motion picture and best actor out of three nominations.
Damon will appear in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Oppenheimer, scheduled for theatrical release on 21 July 2023, and Ethan Coen’s comedy Drive-Away Dolls which is staled for 22 September 2023 release.
