“This doesn’t feel right”: Matt Damon Recalls the Moment When He Realized One of His Most Expensive Movies Would be a Big Disaster
Every successful actor has had their ups and downs. From widely appreciated and awarded movies to projects that don’t break even, a journey in Hollywood is bumpy and unpredictable. Matt Damon, one of the most influential actors of this day and age, has also had his fair share of failures. He started out with Ben Affleck and accepted minor roles all the while eyeing the big prize. Good Will Hunting, his passion project, was his big break into the glamorous world of movies.
Matt Damon’s Worst Movie
From the 90s, Matt Damon has been seen in various Hollywood movies. Many of them have been amazing and a few have failed too. On a recent appearance at WTF Podcast, Damon discussed the interesting trajectory of his career in Hollywood and spoke about his successes and failures. He revealed that his harshest critic is not out there in papers and media studios but in his own family, his daughter.
Damon has not just worked in Hollywood movies. The movie his daughter dislikes the most is his work with Chinese director Zhang Yimou. The film is called The Great Wall where his character fights alien monsters who trouble the human realm. He plays the part of a mercenary from Europe who has been imprisoned in China. The sole reason he wanted to be a part of the movie was because of Yimou. The incredible filmmaker had a reputation that preceded him and Damon was impressed by the same.
However, during filming, he learnt that the director was making a movie for Hollywood and hence doing everything that the American audience would love. Damon shared on the podcast how this realization hit him and how he had to overcome that.
“I said: ‘In this scene, I’m supposed to do this, but this doesn’t feel right. Can he help me understand whatever it was?’ Frank translates and says: ‘The director agrees with you, but since this is a Hollywood movie…’. And I was like ‘oh God, no no’. It was this thing where he was consciously making what he perceived to be a Hollywood movie and what his Hollywood partners had convinced him that they wanted. This is exactly how disasters happen. I’m like: ‘Please tell him I came here to be in one of his movies’.”
In the end, Damon had to accept defeat as he learned this movie would not work due to the conflicting inputs by the makers and producers. His daughter understands that and says the movie does not deserve Great in the title. “She calls it The Wall. When we have people over for dinner, I’m like: ‘Come on, it’s called The Great Wall’. She’s like: ‘Dad, there’s nothing great about that movie’,” the actor added.
Matt Damon’s Upcoming Movies
The critically acclaimed actor has a lot of good projects in the pipeline that will be released in 2024 and 2025. Ethan Coen’s comedy film Drive Away Dolls stars Matt Damon and will hit the big screens this year. Exact details regarding the movie are still unknown but watching Damon in a comedy flick after so long will be fun.
Another exciting movie starring Damon and directed by John Krasinski is Imaginary Friends which features a star-studded cast. The whimsical movie is similar to a Pixar flick coming to life with many cute characters and real people’s interaction with them. The Instigators and The Force are two more movies with Damon in the lead but they don’t have any release date yet.
