Matt Damon’s five greatest roles, according to Matt Damon: “My most beloved performances”
The longer an actor’s career wears on, the harder it becomes for them to name their definitive performance, unless they’re a flash in the pan who only has a couple of hits before fading into irrelevancy. Of course, Matt Damon isn’t among that number, but he still managed to single out his personal top five.
Since first breaking into the business in the early 1990s, Damon steadily progressed from an unknown newcomer to become a bankable leading man, reaching several important touchstones along the way. Courage Under Fire was the first time he fully immersed himself in a role, while Good Will Hunting put him on the map, and Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan elevated him to the next level.
The Talented Mr Ripley proved he was capable of leading an acclaimed drama, Ocean’s Eleven gave him his first taste of a blockbuster franchise, and The Bourne Identity gave him a massively successful film series of his own. He’d accomplished all that before turning 32, and he’s been on top ever since.
These days, Damon exists somewhere between a character actor and a movie star. He isn’t always the first name that comes to mind when anyone thinks about the biggest names in Hollywood in the Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, and Tom Hanks bracket, but he’s still a household name with a multi-billion dollar filmography.
He’s also a favourite among the upper echelons of the industry’s directorial hierarchy, having worked with Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Clint Eastwood. It’s been almost 30 years since he made a name for himself, and based on how things have gone so far, it feels safe to say Damon won’t be coming down from his perch any time soon.
Along the way, he’s earned three Academy Award nominations and seven Golden Globe nods for his acting, winning ‘Best Actor – Musical or Comedy’ at the latter for Scott’s The Martian despite the fact it’s neither a musical nor a comedy, but his turn as the standed astronaut Mark Watney didn’t make the cut when the Oscar winner was tasked to name the five greatest roles of his career.
In an interview with Marjo Nezir, the star prefaced his selections by saying he was “passionate about all the characters I’ve played,” although his feelings on Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall negate that sentiment somewhat. Nonetheless, there aren’t many surprises to be found in Damon’s quintessential quintet.
He opted for the title characters from The Talented Mr Ripley, Good Will Hunting and Saving Private Ryan, the amnesiac super spy he played across four instalments in the Jason Bourne series, and The Departed‘s double-crossing Colin Sullivan. Not a bad spread, but based on how highly he’s spoken of Anthony Minghella’s psychological thriller in the past, Tom Ripley would arguably be at the head of the pack.
“These characters still stand out to me as my most beloved performances,” he explained. “Will Hunting provided me with a career, and the others only made it better.” It’s hard to argue with his selections, even if some might have a soft spot for his memorable turns in titles as diverse as Invictus, Oppenheimer, Behind the Candelabra, and True Grit. Interestingly, though, the ‘newest’ character debuted onscreen in 2006, so it’s been a while since any new contenders have emerged.
