Matt Damon recently revealed that he almost turned down the leading role in “The Martian”, but Ridley Scott convinced him to change his mind.
During an interview with Anne Hathaway, his co-star in “The Odyssey”, for Harper’s Bazaar, the actor said that he initially thought the character was too similar to the one he had played in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”.
“I had just done that part in Interstellar,” Damon explained about his brief but crucial role in the 2014 film. “I became so fixated on it that I thought, ‘Well, I just played a guy stranded on a planet. I can’t play another guy stranded on a planet again.’”
But according to Damon, when he explained to Scott why he did not want to star in “The Martian”, the director was unconvinced and persuaded him to accept the role with just a few words.
“I said it out loud to Ridley, and without hesitation he replied, ‘Oh, nobody cares,’” the actor recalled. “And I thought, ‘All right, I’m in.’”
For 55-year-old Damon, working with Scott ultimately proved to be one of the best decisions of his life. “It was a great role, and I had a lot of fun with it,” the actor said.
Accepting the director’s advice was certainly the right decision. The 2015 film “The Martian” was acclaimed by critics and grossed more than US$600 million worldwide. Damon received the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance, and the film also earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
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