One bad movie can ruin even the most promising careers in Hollywood, so success is fleeting, and the industry is notoriously unreliable. Still, some actors seem to be cast in the most rewarding roles. Matt Damon is one such actor whose career has been marked by astute decisions and courageous gambles.
Through his roles in films like Good Will Hunting and The Bourne Identity, and The Martian, Matt Damon has established himself as one of the most gifted and adaptable actors of his time. The number of roles he has declined over the years is perhaps even more impressive.
Of course, for every The Great Wall he’s starred in, there are dozens of others he’s declined to be a part of, either because he didn’t like the idea or because it would have conflicted with another role he was considering taking.
Matt Damon’s Amnesia Pictures
Director John Woo approached Matt Damon in 2003 to ask him to star in his upcoming film, Paycheck. The film, adapted from a short story by science fiction legend Philip K. Dick, follows a man who must race against time to discover what happened to him after he suddenly loses all memory of the previous two years.
Suggested Article: “Finn must’ve had balls bigger than a Death Star”: Star Wars Fans Rally Behind John Boyega With ‘We Love Finn’ Campaign
Woo went out of his way to try and get Matt Damon to accept the role because he was so confident in his casting decision. Ben Affleck, a friend of Damon’s and a frequent working partner, claims that the two actors met with Woo to discuss the project.
Ultimately, Damon declined the role because he felt it was too similar to his Bourne series work. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Matt Damon reportedly told Ben Affleck he couldn’t “do two Amnesia pictures.”
“I can’t do two amnesia pictures or else people are going to say why are you doing so many Amnesia pictures?”
Ironically, the movie became a forgettable flop after Affleck was cast in the lead. It received a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and made only $96 million worldwide against a $60 million budget, so critics widely panned it. Even though Paycheck did not serve as Ben Affleck’s defining role, it did help to establish Matt Damon as a discerning actor.
Matt Damon’s The Great Wall
In 2016, Damon was approached about starring in a science fiction film alongside Affleck. In The Great Wall, a European mercenary travels to China to assist the Chinese military in repelling a monster invasion of the iconic landmark.
The film’s worldwide total of $335 million is significantly lower than its budget of $150 million. The critical consensus was negative as well. What’s more intriguing is that Damon wasn’t meant to be the film’s main character at first.
The original script called for a Chinese actor, but Damon was cast in the role to win over Western viewers. Initially, Damon declined the role when offered. But director Zhang Yimou, his personal friend, talked him into it.
Is that why Damon passed Paycheck and gambled on The Great Wall instead? Perhaps Damon wanted to collaborate with Zhang Yimou, a director whose previous works include Hero and House of Flying Daggers, which have received high critical acclaim. Or perhaps Damon thought the film’s premise had commercial potential.
The film ultimately bombed no matter Matt Damon’s motivations for taking the role. But that’s not the end of Damon’s acting career. The film industry continues to be influenced by him, and he remains one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Damon and Affleck now own a production house called Artists Equity that aims to partner with filmmakers to empower creative vision. The most recent movie released under this banner is Air.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Also Watch:
