Matt Damon is known for his commitment to the characters he plays. One such example 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 was playing a South African rugby player, and that’s a really tough accent to do,” he tells the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast.
A dialect coach in Florida was hired to teach the Academy Award-winning actor. “It was a long… it was a lot of work. And I showed up and, and I’m, I’m ready. It’s like my chance 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 noted director, so the excitement was expected. However, the actor recounts that his excitement did not last long.
“The very first take, I did it. And meanwhile, I’ve done this so many thousands of times. I have a number of different ways that I’m thinking of maybe doing the scene. So he goes, ‘Cut, print, move on.’”
This abrupt direction forced Matt to ask to do another take. “I go, I go, ‘Hang on, hang on, hang on, 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 declined. “He goes, ‘Why you wanna waste everybody’s time?’”
However, looking back, Matt says it was “kindness,” instead of harshness, explaining, “His whole mentality was… your crew will go to the ends of the earth for you if as long as you’re not taxing them on every shot.”
Invictus is streaming on Netflix.
