Matt Damon has become one of the biggest stars in
Hollywood over the past two decades. He is in this month’s action thriller
Green Zone, marking his third collaboration with director
Paul Greengrass. Damon has been able to grow his career balancing dramatic, action and fun roles in both independent and Hollywood movies, which has now firmly established him as an “A List” actor – and a great one at that.
Early Career:
Breakthrough:
1996 was a good year for Damon. He began work on
Francis Ford Coppola’s
The Rainmaker and his breakout film Good Will Hunting. Damon and best friend Affleck wrote the screenplay for
Good Will Hunting and pitched it around
Hollywood. They even wanted another of their friends,
Kevin Smith, to make the film, as he broke into the industry as a director on the success of his film
Clerks. But Smith thought they should get someone who could do justice to their film. It turned out to be good advice as they were able to attach
Gus Van Sant to the film. In 1997, Good Will Hunting was met with critical and commercial success garnering Damon and Affleck each an
Oscar for best original screenplay and bolstering both of their acting careers tremendously. The film was also nominated for best picture and won
Robin Williams a supporting actor Oscar as well. On the set of Good Will Hunting, Damon met
Steven Spielberg who then cast him in
Saving Private Ryan. There is a rumor that famed screenwriter
William Goldman did extensive rewrites on the script, but they have been disavowed by all parties. Goldman did however offer notes on how to make the film more marketable to
Hollywood, as did
Rob Reiner. With the success of the film, Damon took roles in
Rounders, Smith’s
Dogma and
The Talented Mr. Ripley. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, Damon solidified himself as not only a fine actor but a bankable and marketable rising star. The film proved to
Hollywood that his success in Good Will Hunting was not a fluke.
The Hollywood Game:
Now having established himself in the film industry, Damon began receiving many offers and many roles. Thus, the Hollywood Game had begun. Picking the right projects to build a career is delicate with some luck sprinkled in. Coming off The Talented Mr. Ripley, Damon took a voice-acting role in
Titan A.E., co-stared with
Will Smith in
The Legend of Bagger Vance (which is a little underrated) and the lead in
All the Pretty Horses. All three were considered failures. But, as luck would have it, Damon had a role in the first of two franchises that would propel him to the top:
Ocean’s Eleven. It is in Ocean’s Eleven that he would meet, now good friends,
George Clooney and
Brad Pitt, who would also get Damon involved in charitable work, which he is a strong proprietor of at present. It is also in this film were Damon would establish a long working relationship with
Steven Soderbergh. In 2001, Damon would also start the first of three
Project Greenlights with Ben Affleck, giving new filmmakers a chance to break into the industry, and he took another voice role in
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron as well as appearing in Van Sant’s indie
Gerry, which he co-wrote. Then came his next big franchise and hit:
The Bourne Identity. Again, maybe some luck, or just good foresight by director
Doug Liman as Damon did not fit what people typically thought of as an action star. But Damon was and is fantastic in the role. From there Damon took roles in
Stuck On You and
The Brothers Grimm (a frenetically strange film, which also stars
Heath Ledger and
Lena Headey), working with
The Farrelly Brothers and
Terry Gilliam, respectively. He also made
Ocean’s Twelve and his first with Paul Greengrass
The Bourne Supremacy, which took the series to a new high critically.
Elite Actor:
Starting in 2005, Damon started to take on more serious dramatic roles. Elevated by the success of the Bourne films, he was able to have more control over his career and who he would work with. He first took a role in the Clooney Soderbergh produced political thriller
Syriana, then
Martin Scorsese’s
Academy Award winning
The Departed and
Robert De Niro’s underrated
The Good Shepherd. Those three films, staring opposite
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Angelina Jolie in the later two, cemented Damon into the
Hollywood elite as not only an actor capable of receiving acclaim for his performances but also an actor to bring audiences to the cinema. Now fully established, Damon capped off his two series with
Ocean’s Thirteen and
The Bourne Ultimatum. Damon then took some time off, only doing a few cameos and a voice role for the English dubbing of
Ponyo. He was back in 2009 with two award nominated performances a golden globe
nod for Soderbergh’s
The Informant! and his second acting Oscar
nod for
Invictus (the first acting Oscar nod was for leading actor in Good Will Hunting).
Cameos:
Future and Upcoming Films:
Along with Green Zone, coming this month, Damon also has a small role in
Margaret,
The Adjustment Bureau,
Hereafter, and likely
True Grit coming this year. Margaret is a drama staring
Anna Paquin about a girl who witnesses an accident and gets wrapped up in the aftermath. The Adjustment Bureau is a sci-fi romance co-staring
Emily Blunt about a couple that is affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart. It is from the screenwriter of The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean’s Twelve,
George Nolfi, and is based on a
Philip K. Dick short-story. Next is
Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter; written by
Peter Morgan, it is a supernatural thriller centered on three people who are touched by death in different ways. True Grit from the
Coen Brothers is a western based on the
Charles Portis novel about a tough U.S. Marshall who helps a young women track down her mother’s murderer. It also stars
Jeff Bridges and
Josh Brolin.
John Wayne also stared in an adaptation of the same novel in 1969 also called
True Grit, but the Coen Brothers have not based their script on the film, rather on the novel. Farther in the future, Damon has been linked to two Soderbergh projects:
Liberace and the ensemble piece
Contagion. Damon is also attached to play Robert Kennedy in
Gary Ross’s film. And finally, Damon wants to work with Affleck on a
film about members on the Yankees in the 70s who wife swapped. Damon also wants to start directing his own films.
Matt Damon Box Set (Selected Filmography/Career Highlights):
1.)
Good Will Hunting (1997) – leading actor, writer [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
2.)
Saving Private Ryan (1998) – supporting actor* [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
3.)
Rounders (1999) – leading actor* [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
4.)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) – leading actor [
DVD]
5.)
Dogma (1999) – supporting actor* [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
6.)
Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – supporting actor [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
9.)
The Departed (2006) – leading actor* [
Blu-ray/
DVD]
11.) Invictus (2009) – supporting actor [not yet released]
* Editor’s picks
