Why does Matt Damon insist on losing fights in movies?
Matt Damon has made it clear that he never intended to become an action star, despite his success in the genre. Throughout the 2000s, he took on the lead role in Tony Gilroy’s Jason Bourne trilogy, based on Robert Ludlum’s novels. These films follow an amnesiac ex-CIA agent struggling to survive as his former employers hunt him down—essentially, action-packed versions of Memento.
Actors starring in successful blockbusters like the Bourne movies can easily become pigeonholed into a certain type of role – especially in today’s franchise-obsessed Hollywood. Many have spent decades appearing in one action film after another, only to discover that their screen persona is entirely defined by a single character when they finally step out of that wheelhouse. A quick glance at the MCU’s revolving door of superhero actors will turn up several such names.
Damon was eager to continue playing the meaty roles that served as the foundation of his career. He came up with a very interesting system to ensure that he wouldn’t be pigeonholed into playing Bourne-like characters for the rest of his life. “I try to, if it’s a non-Bourne movie, I try to never win a fight. I think that’s always more interesting,” Damon said. This allowed the actor to keep a versatile and storied career. One that careened him into a leading role in Martin Scorsese’s first and only film to win an Oscar – 2007’s The Departed – in which Damon portrayed a character who was worlds apart from Bourne. The set also offered him a place to put that losing spirit into action amidst a cast stacked with machismo masculinity.
“I remember, on The Departed, like, everyone’s peacock feathers were out, and it’s like, you know, I just remember going to [Martin Scorsese]. I saw this whole swath of, like, kind of virgin territory, where on one would tread, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna take that!’” Damon recalled. “Like, ‘Marty, I want to lose every fight I’m in and I don’t want my dick to work.’ That’s the character I want to play.”
After 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum, Damon took a nine-year hiatus from the role, not returning until 2016. Instead, he cut his teeth in a range of biopics, westerns, thrillers, family movies and realistic sci-fi pictures. Not to mention, of course, 2011’s We Bought A Zoo. The closest Damon came to really being typecast was the one-two punch of Interstellar and The Martian. In both features, he played American astronauts stranded on distant planets.
Damon last portrayed Bourne in 2016’s Jason Bourne and hasn’t reprised the role since. It seems he’s less concerned about being typecast these days—he even took the bold step of winning a fight in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel.
While we might not see Matt Damon as James Bond anytime soon, he’s not ready to pass on the Jason Bourne mantle just yet. This year, Damon hinted at a potential return to the franchise, with director Edward Berger at the helm. “All Quiet on the Western Front is a fantastic film, and he’s wonderful,” Damon said. “He told me he had an idea. I’d love to work with him, so he’s developing it. Look, I’m as anxious as you are to see if this happens—I hope it’s great and that we can do it.”
