Matt Damon’s favourite actor of all time: “I love him a lot”
Matt Damon is something of a rarity as Hollywood actors go. Damon is undoubtedly an absolute movie star, excelling as a charismatic leading man in many major blockbusters while simultaneously retaining a cast-iron reputation as a serious dramatic actor.
With a diverse filmography of unforgettable roles, varying from his bad-ass turn as an amnesiac assassin in the Jason Bourne films to his emotionally devastating performance as a damaged, traumatised genius in Good Will Hunting, Damon has often exhibited his scope across numerous genres.
With that being said, the role that perhaps sums up Damon as an actor best is his lead performance as stranded astronaut Mark Watney in The Martian, which netted him his most recent Oscar nomination to date. As Watney, Damon was a delightful and charismatic lead who effortlessly carried the film on his shoulders while also adding a lot of pathos and vulnerability to the part. Damon exhibited the psychological torment of being trapped as the only human on a planet millions upon millions of miles from his home. As such, this role brilliantly epitomised his strengths as a performer.
In recent years, Damon has continued to build on his reputation as a box office banker. He headlined two movies in 2021 – Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel and Thomas McCarthy’s Stillwater. Both roles were arguable career highlights in which he shed his movie star image and absolutely disappeared into two decidedly unglamorous, morally grey figures. This past year, he skillfully headlined his old pal Ben Affleck’s long-overdue return to directing, Air, and also performed a memorable supporting role in Oppenheimer, in which he provided welcome comic relief in a sobering historical epic.
Given that Damon is undeniably one of the most successful actors of his generation, his pick for favourite actor carries significant weight. So, which actor does Damon admire the most?
Well, when asked to list his five favourite films, Damon cited The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Midnight Run, Jaws and Dr Strangelove. The three former films on that list are all linked by one key individual: the one and only Robert De Niro. Damon claimed this wasn’t deliberate, although he acknowledged: “I am a huge fan of [De Niro]… I love him a lot.”
This isn’t exactly surprising. De Niro is a titan of the acting world and his run of great performances in the 1970s and ’80s has rarely, if ever, been matched by any other actor. In particular, his harrowing interpretation of the self-destructive boxer in Raging Bull is arguably one of the most outstanding film performances of all time.
In the 21st century, De Niro’s career has been less successful, with the actor being wasted in many underwhelming comedies such as Little Fockers and Dirty Grandpa. Nonetheless, the impact of his past work remains undiminished, and besides, as his staggering performances in more recent films like Silver Linings Playbook, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon confirm, De Niro is still just as great an actor as he’s always been even if his choice of roles has gone downhill.
Damon and De Niro did collaborate on 2006’s The Good Shepherd, in which both starred, and De Niro also directed. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office disappointment, but it’s highly unlikely that Damon regrets the movie, given that it allowed him to share the screen with an actor who clearly means so much to him.
