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Matt Damon says he ‘fell into a depression’ while shooting one particularly bad movie

Actor next appears in the Christopher Nolan film ‘Oppenheimer’

Louis Chilton
Wednesday 12 July 2023 11:40 BST
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Oppenheimer trailer

Matt Damon has described a time he “fell into a depression” while filming a particularly regrettable movie project.

The Bourne Identity star, 52, went into the story during an interview with the YouTube channel Jake’s Takes.

Damon declined to mention the name of the project in question. While the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting star has appeared in a number of acclaimed films throughout the years, he has also featured in a number of critically panned releases, such as The Great Wall (2016), Suburbicon (2017) and Downsizing (2017).

“Without naming any particular movies... sometimes you find yourself in a movie that you know, perhaps, might not be what you had hoped it would be, and you’re still making it,” he said.

“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 like, what have I done?”

Damon has been married to Luciana Barroso since 2005. He went on to recall his partner’s reaction to his ordeal.

“She just said, ‘We’re here now’,” he said. “You know, and it was like... I do pride myself, in a large part because of her, at being a professional actor and what being a professional actor means is you go and you do the 15-hour day and give it absolutely everything, even in what you know is going to be a losing effort.

“And if you can do that with the best possible attitude, then you’re a pro, and she really helped me with that.”

Matt Damon in the trailer for ‘Oppenheimer' (Universal Pictures)

Damon can next be seen starring in Oppenheimer, the lavish biopic of nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan.

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The film stars Cillian Murphy in the title role, alongside Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Casey Affleck.

Oppenheimer premiered in Paris on Tuesday (11 July), and early critical reactions have already made their way online.

The film is partly based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin.

Oppenheimer is out in cinemas on 21 July.

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