The invaluable advice Steven Spielberg gave to Matt Damon: “He made me”
Matt Damon has been one of the few actors who has been able to work with the greatest directors of every generation. Starting out life in Hollywood as an upstart young man with an Academy Award, there was a good chance Damon would be cast off as a flash in the pan. But his dedication to his craft and willingness to select the right projects mean his career is entwined with the legacies of cinematic heroes.
From working with Francis Ford Coppola to Clint Eastwood to his recent turn in the latest Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer, Damon knows how to add depth to the characters that leap off the screen. Given where he started, though, Damon is also known to have specific opinions about how certain scenes should go. It has a habit of endearing him to his director or making him a significant issue to overcome. It’s likely due to his own moments of brilliance in screenwriting and filmmaking.
Although Damon may have gotten his start playing bit parts alongside Ben Affleck, his first big break was a true labour of love with Good Will Hunting. Outside of working with Gus Van Sant to bring the tale of the titular Will Hunting to life, Damon’s screenplay for the movie made him a stickler for how the scene should be delivered in his head. Then again, nothing could have prepared him for working on a movie with Steven Spielberg.
After seeing him as a heroin addict in Courage Under Fire, Spielberg thought that Damon would be perfect for playing the dejected soldier in Saving Private Ryan. The role was a demanding one, both physically and emotionally. It was a role that required some physical exertion but a seriously tough mental outlook as the gravity of the performance weighed heavily. While Damon was more than up to the challenge, the rest of the actors originally gave him a cold demeanour when he showed up on set.
Although every cast member might have had to undergo intensive training before arriving on screen, Damon wasn’t given any formal training under strict instructions by Spielberg, explaining to GQ, “He made me not go to boot camp so that the other guys would resent me. They all went through this experience, and they all bonded, but because I was the character they were looking for, they resented this guy that they were risking their lives to save.”
Despite Spielberg’s outstanding skills behind the camera, Damon was focused on his performance throughout the entire shoot and would occasionally get offended when he didn’t feel he got the shot he wanted. Whenever Damon would ask to do another take, he remembered getting a cold reaction from the director, telling Sam Jones: “There was a scene with a couple of guys, and Spielberg moved on, and I said, ‘Don’t you think we should have done a couple more takes of that thing?’ because it hadn’t been great. And he said, ‘I can spend about an hour on that scene and make it ten per cent better, or I can do another great shot. I’m gonna do the shot'”.
What came off as callous and cold that day was actually what Damon needed to hear at the time. For all of the time he spent honing his character, Spielberg was more focused on capturing the spirit of the shoot that day, always looking to find the right shot that best reflected what he wanted to express at the time.
During the shoot, Damon also remembers another actor being put in his place again when asking about their motivation, claiming that Spielberg said, “You can do whatever you want, but just do it over there because that’s where the movie’s going to be.” That approach to filmmaking would soon become valuable advice for Damon later.
When he eventually found himself behind the camera, Damon would remember the time spent with Spielberg and how he would use it to frame the stories he intended to tell. After years of honing his acting craft, Damon appreciated the advice from a film master, remembering, “I’ve come to see it as a magic trick that these 100 people have come together to make work. It’s not about one person’s thing… it’s about the director. The great challenge is for the performance to work within the design of the movie.”
