While George Clooney and Brad Pitt stole the show with their powerful performances, Matt Damon’s Linus Caldwell was also an important character in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven. Linus, a young pickpocket, was struggling to make a name for himself in the world of crime. With such a charming vulnerability that we cannot help but root for, Damon portrayed Linus as an appealing con artist with such ease.
However, the Mystic Pizza star felt that his portrayal of Linus was often overlooked due to the immense presence of his co-stars. He clarified that his role in the movie was just supporting, not leading. Damon, 53, also agreed that if you asked people in the street about the Ocean’s films, most of them would probably mention Clooney and Pitt.
Matt Damon Went Unnoticed Because Of Brad Pitt and George Clooney
With a movie as star-studded as the 2001 heist comedy film Ocean’s Eleven, it can be difficult for the audience to pick out a favorite actor. Matt Damon, who starred in the Ocean’s film series with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, insisted that his success stems from “piggybacking” on his co-stars because he is typically chosen as the supporting actor. The Departed actor admitted to The Times:
“Ask anybody on the street which actors starred in the Ocean’s movies, and they’ll tell you it was George [Clooney] and Brad [Pitt]. I’m ‘support’ in Ocean’s. As I was in Saving Private Ryan – Tom [Hanks] carried that movie.
Subsequently, Damon claimed that he could be accused of mainly profiting from the brilliance of others:
“You could accuse me of piggybacking on other people’s brilliance more than anything.”
Besides, he has not been as successful at the box office as other celebrities, and he was pretty sure that meant he had made less money. According to him:
“I’m sure they have very accurate metrics on how to compensate people for what they’re actually worth in Hollywood, and I’m not the big pay-cheque guy, so clearly they know what the reality is.”
The Actors Struggled To Maintain ‘Straight’ Faces While Filming
Matt Damon‘s fellow actors, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, often ruined takes because they were constantly cracking jokes while filming Ocean’s film trilogy. The Oppenheimer actor disclosed that Steven Soderbergh, who appeared to be the only serious person on set, may have had a headache due to the playful environment.
According to Damon in an interview with GQ, the ensemble of actors had a great time together:
“We rarely kept a straight face. I mean what’s in the movie are the takes where we didn’t kind of fall out laughing because we were pretty unprofessional. Steven used to complain. He was like the teacher trying to keep everybody in line..”
According to Damon, none of the esteemed actors in the cast had an inflated ego. An entertaining anecdote from the actor described how they would applaud the last person to arrive on set as he narrated:
“But we just had so much fun together and it was such a good group, there was no ego.…The last person [to get to the set] invariably got a round of applause like a standing ovation from everyone else. Even if you’re like two minutes early to set, and you’re the last one..”
Steven Soderbergh’s $85 million risk paid off when the first film in the franchise made $450.7 million at the box office, despite the actors’ facetious behavior. The Ocean’s film trilogy achieved global box office success, surpassing $1 billion.
You can stream all three of the Ocean’s trilogy films on Max, along with the spinoff Ocean’s 8.
