Matt Damon is among the leading action stars in the Hollywood industry. The actor started his journey towards stardom with his role in Good Will Hunting, which won him an Academy Award. Some of his remarkable films include Oppenheimer, The Martian, Ford v Ferrari, Air, The Departed, and more. The actor affirmed his position as an action star with his Bourne franchise. However, his mother was once against him getting involved in violent video games.
The Bourne Identity star Damon’s had strict rules against violence in movies and was not allowed to do any such film. However, his mother permitted him to Bourne Legacy due to one reason.
Matt Damon turned down Jason Bourne Video Game for his mother
Matt Damon’s mother has always been against strong violence in video games and movies. There are reports that his mother was one of the main reasons for turning down the Jason Bourne video game. He did not want it to be a simple shooter game, however, it was made in the same pattern despite his exit.
The Martian star shared in an interview with Boston Globe (via MTV News),
“I lobbied hard to not make a first-person shooter game but to make it more like Mist, which was a great, interesting puzzle you tried to solve — you know, to play with his amnesia or his memory. They weren’t interested. They made the [game] anyway, without my likeness.”
Damon’s mother explained her feelings toward video game violence in the same interview,
“I am very wary of violent video games. Research shows they desensitize kids to violence, even more, because they engage kids in committing violence.”
Damon’s mother has similar beliefs about action in the film. However, she allowed Damon to take the role in Bourne movies under one condition. The actor shared with South Coast Today,
“The reason I’m allowed to do this movie and still have a relationship with my mother is that the character bears the responsibility for his actions in a way, and you see the price that he pays for the life that he’s chosen to lead.”
Matt Damon was part of four out of five films in the Bourne franchise, including The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Jason Bourne.
Matt Damon initially planned to pass on the Bourne franchise
The Bourne franchise is one of the most iconic roles of the talented actor Matt Damon. The role is very close to his heart due to its contributions to the action genre, and it became the turning point of his career. However, when the actor had initially read the script, he was not too keen on doing the film.
During the making of the film, its initial inspiration was taken from the books, however, several changes were made in the script. Hence, when the actor flew down to France for shooting, he was shocked to see the script. He did not like the new script as it deviated from the original plot. He shared,
“The writer who got hired to come in though went back to the book and did a page one re-write of Tony’s stuff. So when I went to France I got this script that was unrecognizable from Tony’s script and unrecognizable in a way I was really uncomfortable with. It became the exact kind of movie I would pass on, that I don’t want to do and that I avoided doing because there was the perfect number of explosions and everything.”
The makers decided to revert to the original plot by Tony Gilroy to keep Damon in the film.
Source- MTV News
