Matt Damon has a very diverse filmography in his career so far. From Good Will Hunting to Oppenheimer and everything in between, he has given one spectacular performance after the other. But it was Ridley Scott directed The Martian, that became a turning point in the latter half of his ongoing career trajectory.
The Martian is an Oscar-nominated movie that came out in 2015. Adapted by Drew Goddard from Andy Weir’s book by the same name, this fictional story depicted the life of an astronaut stranded on Mars. The movie, as well as the performance by the ensemble, was praised by critics and audiences alike, especially Damon, who showed the struggles of existing on a foreign planet, all on his own.
Ridley Scott’s Trick Made Matt Damon Cry in The Martian
Being a character stranded on a foreign planet meant the character of Matt Damon was all alone. He had a handful of crew members, but other than that, there was no other human he could bounce off his performance. Damon became lonely, and the filming duration took a toll on him.
But in one of the most emotional scenes in the movie, despite Damon being the only one who performed the scene, director Ridley Scott had a trick up his sleeves. In an interview with ABC News‘ Robin Roberts, Damon revealed:
The other actors had already wrapped. They’d gone home, so it was just Ridley and I in Budapest shooting that scene, and as we started to do the scene, Ridley did something kind of tricky: He put the sound of the other actors inside my helmet. It just struck me that it was the first time I’d heard anybody’s voice in almost two years.
This was the first time he heard from the rest of his cast mates, and that moment became too emotional for him. The scene was a hit, and Damon gave an absolutely brilliant performance, even if he had tears flowing down his face.
Matt Damon Praised Ridley Scott’s Directorial Ability
Ridley Scott is a directorial genius, and having worked with him, Matt Damon agrees. Like putting the voices of the rest of the cast to make Damon give a vulnerable performance, his brilliance shined in how he made the movie. Talking about the scene, and Scott’s directorial genius, Damon said:
I just went. But it happened because of Ridley. And it surprised me. I don’t think it surprised Ridley. That’s a great piece of directing.
Saying the director is very open about his process and helps his actors in the most basic way to enhance their performance, Damon further added:
[With actors], one excuse for not being good in a movie is that we don’t know what movie we’re in. What Ridley does is he absolutely arms you with all of this information. So you not only know what movie you’re in, you know what lens size, you know what shot he’s cutting from and what shot he’s cutting to. All of that makes your job much, much easier.
Made on a budget of $108 million, the movie grossed over $630 million worldwide. It was also nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Martian is available for rent on Apple TV.
