Matt Damon on what makes a professional actor
Matt Damon has already solidified himself as one of the future legends of cinema. Throughout his time in front of the camera, Damon has played characters that have let average fans get in touch with emotions they wouldn’t usually share, from the hardened genius turned empathetic in Good Will Hunting or the military kid that has to come home to his family in Saving Private Ryan. For all of the significant roles that he has played, Damon knows that there’s a rhythm to the shaky productions too.
When first starting in the film world, Damon began working alongside his co-star and best friend Ben Affleck, both appearing as extras in a scene in the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams. From there, both Affleck and Damon would build their career from the ground up, working in films like Chasing Amy and School Ties before pitching Good Will Hunting as their original screenplay.
Although there are plenty of classic performances to choose from, Damon says that there’s a particular pain that comes with a movie that bombs. Even though Damon has had some degree of faith in every role he’s taken on, productions like The Great Wall left a lot to be desired, either being too dull to focus on or too nonsensical to take seriously.
Then again, Damon is usually aware when one of his movies is bound to bomb, recalling, “Sometimes you find yourself in a movie that you know might not be what you had hoped it would be, and you’re still making it. And you’ve got months to go, and you’ve taken your family, and it’s inconvenienced them”.
Even though most other actors would stop trying when they realised they were in a flop movie, Damon got the strength to keep going from his wife while performing in those projects. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Damon knew that the key to being a professional actor is showing up even when the films are terrible and managing to give the best performance that he possibly could.
As he explains: “What being a professional actor means is you go, and you do the 15-hour days 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”.
Granted, there would hardly be any film that Damon had gone into where he hadn’t given 100% when working. Even though many fans would know him for his brilliant work in films as varied as The Martian and Saving Private Ryan, Damon brings just as much integrity to the smaller roles he has played over the years.
Take his small performance in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, for example. While the role may only have been a small aspect of what the main story was about, there’s never a moment where it feels like Damon is phoning it in, knowing that whatever move he makes on camera will be in service to creating a better movie. It’s never easy dealing with a losing effort, but like any good athlete, Damon knows how to keep fighting until the end of production.
