“He pretty much put a smokin on me”: Marvel Star Completely Destroyed Matt Damon in an Audition Before ‘Good Will Hunting’
American actor Matt Damon has been entertaining us with his boyish charm and great acting skills for more than two decades. The official Martian of Hollywood was a part of one of the biggest blockbusters of 2023, Oppenheimer, and took over everyone with his fiery and feisty screen presence as General Leslie Groves in the magnum opus project of Christopher Nolan.
Not many people know that despite having successful blockbusters under his name, Matt Damon was completely beaten out by the Fight Club actor Edward Norton during the audition of a 1996 released legal-mystery drama directed by Gregory Hoblit.
When Edward Norton Completely Smashed Matt Damon In The Audition Of Primal Fear
During an interview with Vanity Fair in 1997, Matt Damon spoke about what all it takes to stand out in the crowd. While talking about it the actor-turned-producer recalled an audition from his initial years in the entertainment industry. Matt Damon was completely destroyed by Edward Norton during the audition for the legal thriller drama Primal Fear. He said-
“Primal Fear—you know the Edward Norton role? It more or less came down to him and me, and he pretty much put a smokin’ on me,”
The 1996 release Primal Fear marked the debut of Edward Norton in mainstream Hollywood. During a conversation with the media outlet Daily Actor in 2020, The Illusionist actor spoke about his Primal Fear audition experience. He said-
“When I went in to audition for Primal Fear, I asked if I could come into the room. Then, Deb came into the room, and I was sitting on the floor by the couch in the scene in the prison cell. Deb took a look at me and grasped that I didn’t want to chat, that I just wanted to get into it. She came over, pushed the table aside, and sat down on the floor with me. I looked at her and realized, ‘There is no assistant; She doesn’t have a script in her hand. She’s sitting down to do the scene with me. So, let’s go.’ And she did.”
Deborah Aquila was the casting director of Primal Fear and she completely knew that Edward Norton could easily pull off the role and hence gave him a chance to showcase his acting prowess in front of the world.
Matt Damon Left Edward Norton In the Dust During The Audition Of The Rainmaker
Competition is everywhere, similarly, the cutthroat competition amongst talented actors is something that is hardly spoken about, especially what it takes to beat out hundreds and thousands of talented people to land up with a dream project or a character.
During an interview with The Off Camera Show in 2020 Edward Norton spoke about his first movie Primal Fear, and how he was beaten out by Matt Damon in the audition for the Francis Ford Coppola-directed legal drama The Rainmaker. He said-
“That was after I’d done Primal Fear … I’d done a couple of things, and I didn’t know Matt, but I knew who he was. And I think we were in the shortlist on that. And if I had gotten [The Rainmaker], which Matt got, I wouldn’t have done American History X. Because right around then I had read it, and I was feeling it, I was kinda feeling that one,”
He also mentioned how both the actors competed for one of the most important movies of Edward Norton’s life Primal Fear. He was critically acclaimed for his performance in the movie which brought him into the media spotlight.
During an interview with The Off Camera Show in 2019, Matt Damon spoke about how heartbroken he felt after losing the role in Primal Fear as according to him it is quite rare to come across such a powerful character. The Departed actor had given tough competition to Edward Norton during the audition of The Rainmaker and secured the role under his name.
He said-
“What are the odds that a movie with that good a role is gonna make it all the way through the ranks of known actors and then get thrown to the wolves? And all of us are gonna fight for that scrap, and one of us will get it. This ain’t gonna work,”
Matt Damon went ahead with his Academy Award-winning project along with his great friend Ben Affleck. Good Will Hunting earned the actor duo their first Oscars for Best Original Screenplay in 1998.
Source: Vanity Fair/ Daily Actor/ The Off Camera Show
