Matt Damon is known for his dedication to the characters he plays. An example of this is the role of a South African rugby player in Invictus.
He recalls that it took him six months to prepare for the role, which required him to speak English with a South African accent.
“So I played a South African rugby player, and that’s a very difficult accent,” he says Conan O’Brien needs a friends podcast.
A dialect coach in Florida was hired to teach the Academy Award-winning actor. “It took a long time… it was a lot of work. And I showed up and, and I’m, I’m ready. It’s like my opportunity to work with, you know, one of my heroes.”
From “hero,” the actor refers to Clint Eastwood, a Hollywood legend who also directed the 2009 film Invictus.
The film also marked Matt’s first time working with the renowned director, so the excitement was to be expected. However, the actor says his excitement didn’t last long.
“On the very first take I did it. And now I’ve done this thousands of times. I have a bunch of different ways I think I could do the scene. So he says, ‘Cut, print, move on.'”
This abrupt direction forced Matt to ask for another take. “I’m going, I’m going, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, boss. I want to, you know, I want to do another one. I mean, I wasn’t even in costume.’ You know, that was like, that was the first one.”
But Clint refused. “He says, ‘Why do you want to waste everyone’s time?'”
Looking back, however, Matt says it was “kindness,” rather than harshness. He explains, “His whole mentality was… your crew will go above and beyond for you as long as you don’t stress them on every shot.”
Invictus is streaming on Netflix.
