Transcript of Matt Damon

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Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. I'm very, very excited about our guest today. It is a superstar, and that star is Matt Damon. Matt Damon is joining us, Boston's own, so good at so many things, such a professional, and, uh, in the peak of his career in a huge movie. And we're gonna talk about a lot of things today. We're gonna talk about long-lasting professional relationships. And how important they are. We're gonna talk about hating pranks, but loving a little bit of reality TV. We're gonna talk about shooting in caves and working with giant puppets. And we're gonna talk about The Odyssey, the new film that is out, the giant new film by Christopher Nolan that he is the star of. He plays Odysseus. He's on the journey, babe. But before we get to talking to Matt, we are gonna talk to somebody who knows our guest, who wants to speak well behind their back and give me a question to ask them. And we have a great get. We've got a little indie filmmaker named Christopher Nolan. He is on the rise. Keep an eye out for this kid. He's doing great work.

And Chris Nolan is joining us, and we are very, very excited to talk to him. And let's see if we can get him on the Zoom. This episode is presented by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking how long that recipe takes before you start cooking? Well, that's how you learn that simmer for 4 hours is buried halfway down the page. Yeah, checking first is a good idea. So check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois.

How you doing?

Hi, Chris, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Oh, you pouring some tea?

I am. I don't do anything without tea.

I, uh, also am an excessive tea drinker. What's your brand?

Earl Gray.

Oh, I see. I enjoy a black tea. Who makes your Earl Gray?

Uh, Twinings. I see.

Have you heard of Barry's tea? Yeah. But you don't like?

I would say that I wouldn't— I don't want to upset the Irish contingent, but, uh, no. But every, every country, every nation has their own, uh, particular blend. Uh, Twinings works for me.

Well, thanks for talking today. I'm very, very excited to talk to Matt. Um, congratulations on Another incredible film. Thank you. How do you compete with the imagination of people who have read and studied The Odyssey? I mean, it's like you're competing with the idea of The Odyssey in a way.

I mean, you can't. And I learned this, you know, we all learned this who worked on The Dark Knight trilogy. Like, you couldn't compete with people's idea of, that amazing character and, and the, at the time, 75 years of history behind it. This is 3,000 years people imagining. It's everything's worse. You, so you can't compete with it. What we realized addressing character of Batman, and I brought that very much to the Odyssey, is you have to trust that what people want from you is your most sincere attempt to do justice to the material, to do it with a seriousness and, and with a, an appreciation of the original text. But it has to be your own interpretation. Certainly I, as a filmgoer, respond to that. And other people, if I go see a movie and I realize that people have loved this and have really tried to, to give you an experience and try to put something across in the way that they really believe is great, uh, I think, I think people cut you a lot of slack for that. Cuz yes, you cannot compete with people's own imaginings when they read a text.

If we are to care that Odysseus makes it home, we need to care about the person trying to make it home. We need to just feel like they even care about home. And there's something about Matt as just an actor, I think, that's innate in him and able to express that. What made you cast him in this film?

Well, You know, I'd gone to 9 or 10 other people by the time I got that. No, the truth is I actually don't think about actors when I'm writing. I try not to. I try to really just, just live through the characters in the writing process and then come out the other side and go, okay, how's this going to work? Who, who are we getting for this? And Matt really immediately popped into my head because you're looking for this what you're talking about, that kind of empathetic ability to draw the audience into a character's dilemma. And he has that openness. He brings the audience with him, but he also can project an iconic, frankly, superhero presence. I mean, he's, you know, he's the guy from The Martian, or We Bought a Zoo, and then, you know, Good Will Hunting, and then he's Jason Bourne. And to be able to do such disparate things and sort of fuse them into a character was exactly what I needed. Also worked with Matt twice before, and I knew that the way we wanted to take this on and what was really important to us in making The Odyssey was to try and get out there and find a way to bring the audience with us, put the audience up the deck of his ship and climb mountains and go into the Cyclops' cave with him.

So, you know, I needed a partner. I needed somebody who would lead from the front and just dive in and do all of this crazy stuff without complaining about it. And he's just a, he's in such a wonderful place in his, his life and career. He, he really appreciates what he gets to do. He understands how good he is at it, I think, you know, in, in a really comfortable way, in a really great way. And he just leads from the front. He gets everybody. Inspired with him. And I think without that, you know, we would've crashed and burned horribly. So, from a practical point of view—

You can't have an Odysseus complaining that it's cold or it's late or— And I mean, you put him through the wringer.

Put him through the wringer. And what's fun about working with Matt is, you know, he's a great writer himself. You can have really, really specific and detailed conversations about script. And about how we're going about things. But he also doesn't talk for the sake of it. You know, he doesn't want to just use you as a sounding board to hear his own ideas about the character. He sort of goes off and figures out who he is and then, you know, brings that to the floor, which is, you know, really fun to deal with.

Well, he has to go rest 'cause he has to work out 1,000, do like 5,000 sit-ups a day because you're insisting on making this, let's face it, middle-aged man.

Yeah, he was exactly the right place in his, his time of life and everything to do it. And I, I actually had a, I had a, had a moment with him at his first wardrobe fitting. This, we'd been fitting all of the supporting cast, all the guys who play his crew and some younger actors and everything, and they all come in and they've all got tattoos, which is a nightmare for a period film. It means hours and checkers. You have to cover all that up.

Yeah.

And then put the costume on, and then rain and wind and, you know, costume will rub it away, and then I, you know, and I thought, okay, well, here's Matt, you know, he takes his shirt off the fitting and he's got a fucking tattoo. And I was like, not you as well. Like, what? And it was, you know, very small, tasteful tattoo, you know, name of his children and all that, you know. Uh, and he said to me, well, if I'm to be perfectly honest, I thought my, uh, bare bicep days were over. And I said, okay, fair enough. The truth is I think they're just beginning. But, you know, uh, so yeah. Little extra time in the chair.

Do you have to physically train to get ready for a film too? I mean, it is exhausting to be directing. You, like, do you do— do you physically train when you're getting ready to go on set?

No, I don't. But the—

it's—

no, it's actually kind of a natural process of it because what happens before you shoot the film on a film like this is you start jumping on planes and getting in vans and driving all over the place. And you go off to scout and to find these places. And I do that with my designer, just the two of us. We go off and gradually we add people to that group and we make multiple trips, but we cover thousands and thousands of miles and we're just constantly climbing up hills and all that. And the first couple trips are bad. I'm like, well, you're not up to this.

How is this going to work?

And you're doing that thing where you're like, I know it's beautiful, but maybe Odysseus is—

Maybe something a little closer to the hotel.

Yeah, exactly. Well, congratulations. It's just such a triumph and everything you make is so Incredible. And just, um, what a career you've had. And, um, and I, I ask my, uh, my, my guests a question, um, uh, from someone I speak to beforehand, and we talk well behind their back, and then, um, I, I, I, we ask a question of them. And, um, I want to get to that, but, but, but just one last thing before I do, which is your wife Emma Thomas is so instrumental in the stuff that you make. She's such a badass, so incredibly talented. And I don't really have a question other than I just want to remind people of your beautiful union.

I'm just thinking right now, I wish I'd also leave the room before I did the interview because she heard all that.

So, Emma, if you're there, I will never hear the end of it. Emma, I mean, just like, aye! Hi! You're such a badass. He's never gonna forgive you for that. Or me. I mean, it's so cool how you guys work together and what you do together and how you work together. I have such great respect for Emma and her work.

Well, me too. No, that's really— I love everything you say.

That's all. I mean, no question other than how— Isn't it great to be married to such a cool lady?

It is very great to be married to such a cool lady. It's very great to have such a great producer on the film. So, I mean, you— You take something like this, it's like it wouldn't— it would be really unthinkable without her calm, clear, you know, "We'll get through this. We'll find a way," sort of sensibility. So thank you for bringing that up.

Yeah, of course. So do you have a question you think I should ask Matt specifically about the project or about him or anything you want to know about him, big or small, that you don't feel like you know?

There is a question that I've tried to ask him before and I never got.

Okay.

A clear answer. So I think you might have better luck, which is, so Matt, as I'm sure you know, but he's a, obviously he's an amazing actor, wonderful movie star as well as we talked about. Uh, he's also a great writer. He's an Academy Award-winning writer as he occasionally reminds me when he disagrees with something in the script. But, uh, and a fantastic producer produced, you know, best picture nominees, all the rest of films he wasn't in, you know, everything. And I'm pretty curious, and I haven't got a straight answer from him about this, as to why he hasn't directed.

Ooh, great question.

It's something he could have chosen to do. He's so knowledgeable. You know, you get on set with him, he knows more about everything on set than anyone. Well, almost anyone. I'm going to claim a little bit more knowledge of what I want to do on my set. But he's pretty— he's— He's pretty in control of every aspect, holding in his head in terms of what everybody's doing, which is one of the reasons he's such a great collaborator as an actor because he's not just looking at his part. He's looking at how what he's doing is advancing the story. And he's very, very cognizant and respectful of all the other things I'm trying to balance in terms of how the scene we're doing interacts with the rest of the narrative.

Okay, I'm going to ask him that. And, um— I'm gonna say that you said that he would make a great director.

I don't know if I actually said that. I was just curious as to why he doesn't try.

Maybe he noticed something.

I think he knows— Yeah. He has such a clear ability to be able to step into that role if he wanted to. So, I'm curious. I mean, maybe there's something about him that I don't—

Have you ever acted?

Oh, no.

Oh.

I have far too much respect for what actors do to try and tread on their toes.

I know. We always say on a set, everyone should just do everyone's job just for one take.

Yes. I think nobody's afraid of being the director. They all think it'd be a great gig.

Yeah, really.

They'd like to do it.

Yeah.

But I think that might be the answer you get from Matt.

It might be that he knows so much about it, and he's seen so many people do it, that he doesn't fancy sitting in the hot seat.

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for your incredible work. I'm gonna let you get back to your tea. I know it's sitting right under frame. And we all know any good director, they've set up the tea in the beginning. We need to see that tea very soon. 'Cause it's gonna be a big part of the story. Thank you, Emma, if you're still there. And really nice talking to you. Thanks, Chris. Pleasure. Nice talking to you. Yeah, you too. Take care. Bye-bye. This episode is brought to you by Subaru. There's something about being on the road that has a way of leading to those unexpectedly memorable little moments. And in the all-new 2026 Subaru Hybrid, it's like the destination isn't even important. It's the drive, baby. And let me tell you, I'm in that car and I feel like a million bucks. Quiet ride, comfortable, love my Subaru, can't get enough. With up to 581 miles in the Subaru Forester Hybrid and even more, 597 miles in the Crosstrek Hybrid, you can go further between stops and stay in the moment longer. Visit Subaru.com/Hybrid to learn more. The Subaru Forester Hybrid and Crosstrek Hybrid, love goes the extra mile.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

We were just talking about, we just got to see, we got—

I'm so happy. I have talked to so few people who've seen it.

Oh my, I mean, I feel really lucky that we got to see it.

Great, great.

And it was so great to be able to see it. Congratulations. Thank you. It is such a huge movie.

Yeah, it's by far the biggest thing I've ever been anywhere near.

It's gonna be big, and it is big, and it's so loud. It's a really loud movie.

Yeah.

IMAX is intense.

Yeah, yeah.

IMAX is intense.

Yeah, it's—

It's incredible.

Yeah, the whole experience was like that. It was just—

Yeah.

It was awesome.

Matt Damon's here, everybody. Sorry. We're jumping into The Odyssey. But I wanted to start there because I— I was lucky enough to get to see it. I've been thinking about it a lot. It's one of those things that sticks with you, of course, 'cause it's, like, in many ways, probably the most famous story ever told. I watched it, and it's been swirling around in my head, obviously, because of what it represents. But I'm thinking about it as this meditation on aging.

Okay. I— No, no, I hear you, and I agree.

Because it— You and I are the same age. It feels like— there's this moment in life now where it's like there's a past and all of the wreckage or whatever joy and love and drama that comes with that and trauma that comes with the past. This, like, real present that, like, is really hard. And there's, like, a lot of people you're taking care of, aging parents, kids, and then this version of, of how people think we are or Are we still the version that people think we are? It's a very cool— I've been thinking about it a lot because it's just really hitting me at this age. Does that resonate at all?

It definitely does. And that's what I love about this movie and about the script. Like, he is— He's a really underrated writer, I think, Chris, because he's such a brilliant director that it kind of overshadows his writing. I've read 3 of his scripts now because this is the 3rd movie I've done with him, and— They're just so well written. And thematically, this touches on so much. And what I love— why I love hearing that is because to different people, it's going to mean completely different things. And where you are in your life, where we both are in our lives, like, that piece will resonate with us. But for instance, there was a guy who worked on the film named Duff, who's a Navy SEAL. And we were on the boat one day out in the middle of the ocean and sailing back. And he just turned to me and he said— and we started talking. We started talking about the screenplay, and this is without having seen the movie, and he said, "I think this is the most— the best movie about PTSD that I've ever read or seen." And it's like, so I think it depends on where you are and where you've been.

And that's what's so great about The Odyssey is I think that's why it's survived for 3,000 years is because it works for every— everybody who encounters it, encounters it at a different place in their life, and it's got some resonance for them.

I ask this to people my age because I've found that this— life is getting better, and it certainly feels— I mean, from the outside, not knowing your life, it feels like you've been able to just keep making more stuff that you enjoy and, like, just growing as an artist and all that stuff. What is great about being our age?

I think, honestly, I think that. I think that— look, the business we're in is tough.

Mm-hmm.

And I think, you know, the first time we met and worked together, we were probably in our late 20s, early 30s.

Right.

And you don't know how things are gonna work out. You know, there's so much up in the air and there's a lot of pressure and, you know, there's a lot you wanna do. There's a lot you feel like you have to say.

And everything feels ahead of you.

That's right.

Yeah.

And then I think the place we're at now, or at least speaking for myself, is a place, there's a greater sense of calm.

Yeah.

I think. Yeah. And really, like when Ben and I started a company together a few years ago, it was partly because we were like, What are we doing? Like, this is the most joyful thing. Like, our dream, like, that we had when we were kids, literally children together, you know, teenagers.

What, you met, what, 10 and 8 or something?

10 and 8. But then we really were bizarre kids who were serious about acting, and we were in the union, and, you know, and at 16 and 14 years old, we were going to New York together to audition for stuff. Um, and our friendship was You know, founded on quite a bit of common experience, but that was central to it and very unique to the two of us. And here we are 40 years later, and it's like, "We should make every single movie we can together." You know what I mean? Because it's the most—

Well, but it's an unusual— You said this before, that you're really good at partnerships, and it feels like Chris is another one, like, you know, where you're like, "I'm really good at picking people who can be partners in my life." And the fact that you guys still work together this many years many years later and that you love working together, it's unusual. It's just like— it's like, what do you like about working with him?

I think for us, we've experienced so much of life together. You know, it's not a friendship that could ever be replicated, just because we grew up together, which meant we were together all the time. You know, we— you know, writing a screenplay together, And I think working together is— One of the great things about writing with him was always the fact that there was a deep and abiding love and respect underneath everything that was never in question. It was very helpful. And when you're working creatively with someone, because you're not worried about their feelings.

And I mean, I imagine you guys have a pretty quick shorthand about what works. Nothing is taken that personally when you're creating something. Ever.

Ever. And it's just the allegiance is to the thing that we're making. And we're trying to get there as quickly as we can and as efficiently as we can. And there's a deep trust. If you like, you can get hung up on an idea sometimes, you know, as a writer and dig in and sometimes you can be wrong. And if you have somebody that you trust that much, they'll also hear you out. And they're humble enough to know they might be wrong too. So it's just a very easy experience. And it also ends up being just really fun because you're doing it with, you know, For me, it's like, you know, my closest friend for 40 years, 45 years. It's like, yeah, who else would I want to hang out with and do? Yeah.

Tina and I went on tour this year. We've been friends now for like over 30 years and we have a similar dynamic, which is we just work so well together. Like we don't, we don't care about the same thing. Like we don't like what we have similar things that we don't stress about.

Right.

And then things that were like, "This is really important. We have to get this right." There's this theory that the age you meet people— Like, you were 10, Ben's 8. I'm gonna compare you guys to the Beatles, so get ready.

It's coming from you, not me.

Paul McCartney. No, you said I had to. Paul McCartney. You squeezed my arm when you came in and you said—

You had one note that came before me.

Okay, I got slipped a note, and you said, "You call me Paul McCartney before this interview's over." But no, it was like Paul McCartney's a couple years older than George Harrison, and they always had an older brother, younger brother dynamic just because they were 2 years apart. Do you guys have an older brother, younger brother dynamic? No. No. Like same age dynamic?

No. And in fact, Ben is an older brother and I'm a younger brother, even though I'm older than him. So I'm sure we'd fall— and I've noticed that, you know, my wife is also an older sibling.

Yeah.

And there's something about that.

Yeah.

I think that makes it easy.

Yeah.

You naturally fall into your role.

Yeah.

Like as a younger sibling, I had one, you know, my big brother and he was like a god. And it was just like, I just had to follow him around.

Yeah.

My mom, you know, she worked, she was like, Like, my brother joined the YWCA swim team because his girlfriend was on the YWCA swim team. So I had to join the YWCA swim team. You know, it doesn't matter. Like, I could swim okay. I didn't love it, but, you know, I was on the swim team. And so things— so, but it never occurred to me that I could protest. Right. You know what I mean? Whereas an older sibling is questioning everything because they're the ones who are kind of trailblazing and they're kind of responsible.

Yeah.

You can tell an older sibling right away.

For sure.

You really can. And they're also like translating life to other— their other siblings, even though they're— they could be like 12 months older than you, and they're like, here's how it goes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Here's the thing about this.

But, but you brought up your mom. I— my mom is a teacher. My— both my parents are teachers growing up. Your mom is an educator, author, like academic. You guys grew up in Boston, as we know famously. I also did. Sometimes you do feel like you got out And people are like, "Good for you for getting out." And sometimes they're like, "I'm still here." And you're like, "That's great. I have no judgment about that. That's fantastic. Your life is great." And sometimes they have a feeling about it.

Well, Krasinski has this great character called Bitter Boston Guy. Must be nice. And he leaves occasionally voicemails, and they are just— But it's like, "No, good for you." Good for you. "Good for you. No, I know I'm sure you're real busy, Amy, with your big life and everything." I— from what I understand, you're bicoastal now. I mean, not to Boston, but to New York. And I get it, you know, and it's just— and it's one of those— and they go— it goes on and on for like 5 minutes, and I'm just crying by the end of these things.

Um, you know, I said to myself, if I go up there and talk to her, she's not gonna want to talk to me.

She probably won't remember me.

She won't remember me, but I remember you. I remember you, and good for you. Um, and then lastly, on behalf of all Bostonians, I'm sure you've talked about this a lot too, but I don't think I know On behalf of all of us, where were you when we won in 2004 and the Red Sox won?

I was— So, I was making a movie called Syriana, and that was shooting at the time in Dubai. And I was watching all the Yankee games on— In fact, I was in Geneva during the— when we clinched against the Yankees. And I was supposed to work the following week in Dubai. And George Clooney, thank God, was a producer on the movie. And I called him immediately, and he said, "I already redid the entire schedule. You can go home." No way! So I came back. I landed at JFK. I was living in New York. I landed at JFK. The game was just starting. I made it to my apartment by, like, the second or third inning. And we won that game. Yep. You know, obviously, we won all four. But once we won that game, I knew that I had to watch every single moment on that couch by myself, 'cause that was the lucky game for me.

Oh, you watched it by yourself?

Absolutely. I was just like, "Well, I'm here." Oh, I didn't want to jinx anything.

Yeah, yeah. We used to scream at my mom to leave the room. She walked into the room, she couldn't— if she was holding the laundry, she had to hold it the whole time. Totally.

Yeah. And I do feel like something psychically changed for all of us when that happened. Mm-hmm.

I know it did for my family. My dad, like, was— it felt like a release of a long-awaited something. It felt like The Odyssey.

It did.

It did. This can't be true, but it is.

Wait a minute, is The Odyssey about that? Wait a minute. Um, what did your mom think about you not finishing Harvard?

Uh, well, by then, I mean, I was working. They were—

You were really close to finishing.

I was. I was. In fact, I probably did 5 years of classes there.

Yeah.

'Cause I would go, and then there was one semester, the last semester I left, I was 2 weeks away from the end of the semester. So I'd done everything. All I had to do was take the finals. But the rule was, at the time at least, you had to take your finals at the exact moment they were offered in class. In Cambridge. And I was like, "I'm number 5 on the call sheet. You think I'm gonna shut a movie down, like, for 3 hours, 4 different times? Like, I just had to eat this semester." Damn.

Do you ever have a fantasy about going back?

I think I used to. Like, there was a— But I also, you know, I was an English major, and in fact, I started writing Good Will Hunting for a class. I just had wonderful professors, and that professor really encouraged me to keep going with it. I didn't know what— I'd never— tried to do that. And in fact, I wrote— we were supposed to write a one-act play, and I wrote the first act of a three-act movie. But at that point, I'd already been leaving and going, you know, I mean, I was kind of out in the world working, so I wasn't, like, sweating grades the way I was kind of in the— I was kind of out of the pipeline. And I was really in school for myself at that point. And I went to the college to the guy, and I said, "I think I failed your class, but this is the first act of a movie." And he read it, and he gave me a straight A, and he just said, "Don't stop. Keep going." Like, he gave me all this encouragement. And that was when I just took it out and showed it to Ben.

It's so cool because you can also tell that respect you have for teachers in the film. Like, it's in Good Will Hunting. And we grew up around educators, and— I know we're saying the obvious, but it is still wild how people can remember the teacher.

Oh my God.

The 3 teachers.

I had multiple teachers.

Me too, that were like, "You're doing good. Hang in there." Just those positive reinforcements about anything you were doing.

Yeah.

So, okay, you guys moved to Hollywood. Congratulations, you win an Academy Award. You do Good Will Hunting, everybody's favorite movie. Give the best speech ever. You bring your moms. It's incredible. And—

We didn't have a choice.

But from that moment, like where, you know, you've been working to your point, to what you were saying, you've been working for a long time. We know you then, we meet you then, and I'm the same age as you. I'm watching you like be my age, like entering into some system and you're from Boston and it's like, oh, okay. We don't have to live near the game to be in the game basically. What is your relationship to work now? Because when you're young, like we talked about, you're like, I wanna do this and this, and then you start getting these things. Then, like, so then what is your relation to— are you tired? That's a long question to ask, but I'm personally asking for myself.

Sometimes. I mean, yeah. But I think that's where this— I feel like, for both Ben and me, that we are at the same time kind of stepped into this new phase of life and really felt it.

Yeah. What is that new phase?

That we just want to work on— it's about— about really the pursuit of joy in our lives and in our work. And like this movie, I never would've— I think 20 years ago, I would've bitched a lot about, you know, I don't think—

That actually hits home.

It was like the physical discomfort in making this movie that everybody, everybody had to go through, the entire crew. So, the experience of doing this movie, though it was the hardest movie that I've ever done, By far, was so joyful. Yeah. It really is. That's amazing. And also, it felt more like an expedition than a movie because of how we made it. And to know that every single person around you was weathering those same difficulties and pushing themselves, like, it's just this feeling of, you know, of being a part of that team of people was just— It was— it just— it was one of the best feelings I've ever had.

That's very cool. I mean, you're making me think of that, like, Sanskrit idea that life is what you say it is, basically.

Right.

So you can be like, "This is the worst. This is the hardest thing." Or you can be like, "This is the most incredible opportunity I'm getting to do." Yeah.

And I definitely, from the moment Chris gave me the part, I felt that. Because first of all, he— I mean, first of all, it's one of the great roles of all time. And he was gonna make this thing at the scale that it deserved to be made.

And pretty practical, right?

All practical.

Like, that's—

He was gonna make it the way David Lean would've made it. The way somebody would've made it 80 years ago.

For people that are gonna see it, and you guys can tell us if it's too spoilery and we'll cut it, but there's scenes where Cyclops is— You're meeting Cyclops, who, by the way, I was proud of myself. I was like, "Is that Bill Irwin?" You got him right away, huh?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's amazing. He's amazing.

Rachel getting married. Amazing. And I was like, "Oh my God, is that Bill Irwin's face?" That, I find out, is a giant puppet.

Yeah.

What the fuck? That is wild!

It's really wild when you realize we shot it in an actual cave. And so, there's no soundstage.

That's wild.

So, we would hush. We would hike to this cave, and it was called Zeus's Cave. They say it's where Zeus was born. And we would hike up to this cave, um, and the rigging that the guys did in this cave, they basically turned it into a soundstage almost. You know, like, there were— I mean, it was just— the amount of work that went into doing this was like—

And I bet you shot at places that no one had ever been allowed in, and like—

Well, that nobody would be crazy enough to try to shoot in was what it really was. Like, honestly, I would go— every time I would show up, I would start laughing. I would be looking like, "You gotta be kidding me." You're like, "We're going up there?" Yeah, that's where— Yeah. Like, "So what are we shooting?" "Well, we're not shooting anything till we get up there, 'cause that's where everything is, so..." Yeah, that's wild. So that part of it was— That's what I mean about an expedition. And it was— And we were all in it together. We all hike up the mountain. And in that cave, that was, you know, Chris was like, "No, we got a 60-foot puppet." And so, basically, he does as little special effects effects as humanly possible, which means you can do quite a bit without CGI. And where he needs it, you know, he'll— He understands what year he lives in, and he has the absolute best special effects teams. They really help try to figure out how we can do everything, almost just about everything in camera.

Much like I compared you to Paul McCartney, I'm going to compare The Odyssey to SNL. But SNL is like— SNL is the best. That's another thing that I told you, I, you know. But similarly, there's few places left that's like, we have a show tonight. And you know, because you've done it, hosted many times, and you're like, everyone's just— it's like comedy emergency room. Everyone's doing the best version that they can do in the time that they have. And therefore, everything feels really human. It's very cool that way. Like, things feel practical and tactile and stuff. And you've done the show a bunch of times. I don't know if you remember the first time you hosted. I think it was like 2002. I was like my second year there. I have a great picture of us, me and Dratch, and you have your arms around us. We look like 10-year-old babies. We look like babies. Such babies. And we're all like, "The whole world is—" But it was— Because I remember just starting when you came, and I remember that exact feeling of like, "Holy shit, look at all these talented people trying to make something, like, real and human, basically." What was it like to— What is it like to do that show?

Do you like doing it?

I still remember. I love doing it. And that first time, the reason I did it, Patrick, my agent, called me and said, "You're hosting Saturday Night Live." And I said, "Oh, okay. But I don't have anything coming out." And he goes, "No, Bruce Springsteen's the musical guest. We're gonna give you a song." You get to hear 2 songs from Bruce. So I was like, oh yeah, 'cause we're huge fans of Bruce Springsteen. So, uh, so that was really why I did it. And, um, and, and I remember going on the, on the Monday night for the, you know, the little pitch in Lauren's office. Mm-hmm. And everybody pitches these ideas. And then everybody went, um, let, let's go to a bar. Mm-hmm. And I was like, guys, we have 90 minutes to do by Saturday. Yeah. Like, how are you people so calm?

Like, like, I couldn't— There's like a, there's like a push, like where people have to like, You have to, like, force panic almost to get anything creatively done.

I was fully panicked on Monday, but then Tuesday night was the night everyone— And I stayed up. They were like, "You're welcome to stay as long as you want." I stayed up overnight till, like, 5:00 in the morning, popping into different rooms and writing with people and, you know, and loved that part of it. And then from the read-through on Wednesday, it's just— You're just shot out of a cannon.

Yeah, it's done in 5 minutes. Yeah. And the minute you're done, you're like, "Okay, I got it. Let's do it again." And it's over. The rush that you get is incredible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually, we were looking up some stuff because I was like, "What did I do with Matt?" And there's a sketch that I do not remember. What was it? And I want to watch it with you.

There's a better chance I'll remember it because I've done so many.

You might remember it, but I have zero memory of it. You played a doctor? I saw it and I was like, "No idea what the joke is." Sorry, I gotta get my commercials off my YouTube.

Is this the one where Parnell, where we're on it, where it's everybody's name Matt Damon?

Is that the one? Maybe that's it. It sounds like that's it. All I know is— Okay, here we go.

Excuse me, I hate to bother you, but are you Matt Damon?

Uh, yeah. That's amazing. That's really amazing.

Harnsey, the Iceman. The Iceman.

Oh, really? Oh yeah, there's Dr. Matt Damon.

I'm the chief of oncology.

Okay, so he's a doctor. Matt Damon.

Matt Damon. This is— that's the whole joke. It's a name bit. You have no idea what it's been like for me. And that's not true. Your identity is not about your name, man. It's about who you are, what you do. That's easy for you to say, Matt Damon.

Oh my God, are you Matt Damon? Yeah, I'm a puke. This is so weird. My name is Pat Damon. Okay, now we're name. We're 2 minutes in. And now we'll do the introduction. Wait, you do remember this? So stupid. Oh my God, it's so— it's just—

and it's, it's just, it's totally ridiculous. I haven't seen—

that's really funny. I, I did not rem— I mean, it is—

I remember because I've pro— look, I think I've hosted the show 3 times and I've, and I've come on and done guest spots, but that means I've probably done I've done less than 20 sketches in my life, so I think I probably remember all of them.

You would think you will, but I, I mean, it's so done.

And then at the end, I think someone comes out and is Dr. Julius Irving. I think that's the point. I think that's the— that's it. I forget how it happens, but it's like Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Dr. Julius Irving. I don't think it played that well. I thought it was funny. I know.

But it's a good example of, like, you know, there are hosts who, like, you know, especially on your first time, you don't really know the power you have. You know, no one really tells you the power that you have where you can be like, "I don't want to do that." But there are hosts that are like, "I like to pick the funny stuff." And then there are hosts that are like, "I want to pick the stuff that I'm in a lot." Or that, you know, like— And that's a real ensemble-y sketch. You don't get to do much in that.

But I always say to Laurent, like, "I want the best show." Like, I just, you know, this last one, I think we cut it I think I got 5 sketches after dress, you know, that I was in heavily. And I was like, "Whatever makes it..." You know, also, you've got a younger cast, and it's like they're trying to establish themselves. And like, "All right, if you've got something for them to do that..." You know what I mean? Like, "You all have to do this next week." You know?

But a lot of people don't really take that in. And I don't even necessarily mean it's a bad thing. They're just focusing on other things. You have this ability, you always have, I think, pay attention to, like, the environment that you're in, what other people need. I mean, I think it's what makes you such a good producer. I think it's what makes you such a good collaborator. Like, that isn't always people's process. They just don't know how to take all that in.

Yeah, I guess I always just defaulted to the— the better the thing is you're making, the better for everybody. Yeah, very true. And I really do think that way about movies too. I don't always take the best role. You know what I mean? I want to be in a good movie.

You've been in so many good movies. Goddamn. I mean, that's interesting you say that because, like, even in Interstellar, that role that you take is a really surprising role to take with Chris.

Yeah, Chris undersold it to me, actually. 'Cause Chris— I was really happy to get the call from him, and he, I guess, like, trying to manage my expectations, said, "You know how they say there are no small parts, only small actors?" And I said, "Yeah." And he goes, "This is a small part." "Okay." But I read it, and I was like, "No, this is a terrific part." Like, it's a really great— I mean, it's not big, but it's a really good part. And so, yeah, it's always about if there's something I feel like, you know, worth doing, it doesn't have to be the biggest thing.

Yeah. I mean, you got to work with so many amazing people. If it's okay, I want to just ask you about a few, because some of them we talk about here a lot, and some I had the pleasure to either meet or work with, and I— I, like, love talking about them. And you've talked about him a lot, but can we just talk about Robin for a second? Because I had the experience, as I'm sure you did, of, like, feeling like I got to watch him use his gift to make young people feel like they had some kind of future in whatever they were doing. That was basically— He would come, Robin Williams would come and improvise at UCB. And jump in the theater, the improv theater that I was a part of. And he would just show up. I mean, people would lose their minds. He would show up and he'd talk to 20, all of us 20-year-olds like we were smart and funny and change our lives. What was it like to work with him when you were so young? Yeah, he was that generous.

That was just his— that's just who he was. Yeah. Overflowing with generosity. Like, as a creative partner to work with, to do scenes with. And obviously, this was something that we'd written. We'd been holding onto this thing for 5 years. And how seriously he took it, how prepared he was. Interestingly, he was very— He did a lot of takes at his— Did he feel like he didn't have it?

Like, would he want more because he wasn't quite sure if he was happy?

Yeah. And— And I remember Terry Gilliam telling me, like, Terry Gilliam gave him a— after they did The Fisher King, and Robin's brilliant in that movie. And Terry gave him a report card at the end, and it was— and it had all these different things like creativity, you know, energy, all this stuff, you know. "A, A, A. Late-night phone calls, F." 'Cause Robin would get home and he would call and— He was a ruminator? He was a ruminator. And there were things we went back and did another pickup of a thing, and we'd shot it 15 times already. And Ben and I knew we had it. Gus knew we had it. And he just— And I think that might be the comedy background, where it's like, "I'm gonna refine this joke." Yeah, there's always a joke that you're thinking about. "There's always something more that I can grab in there." And he had this, like, you know, he was, like, indefatigable. Like, the guy just had so much energy. And so we went over budget in film. I remember every day at lunch, we would send out to Kodak, they'd come back with more film because we were burning through a lot of film.

Really just for him to feel like we got it. You know? I mean, Ben and I knew, like— I mean, even the last line of the movie that was not written, he was just supposed to come out and read a letter, and it was just supposed— The camera was supposed to sit on him for as long as he wanted as he thought about this boy driving out of town, and he's on his way. You know, he's going to go see about the girl. And Robin, we left the camera rolling, and we were shooting up at him, and I was right next to the camera, 'cause every time he came out, when he opened up the letter, I said it so that he could hear my voice. And so, Gus and I, the director—

And you were standing by camera to do that?

I was standing by camera. And he wasn't meant to look at me, but just so he could hear me. And he must have done 15. Takes, and he'd put the envelope back, and he'd put it back in the mailbox, and then he'd go in, and we'd still be rolling, and then he'd come back out. And he did, you know, a few without saying anything, and then he just started improvising lines. And on, like, the 9th line, he opened the door, and he looked, and he read the letter, and he said, "Son of a bitch. He stole my line." And I grabbed Gus. Like, I mean, it's like, you know, when you get a piece of dialogue falls from heaven, and you know, and you just know. And— but Robin went back in, and he did it 5, 6 more times. He came back. And I remember Ben wasn't on set that day for some reason, or maybe he couldn't fit up where we were, and so he was back. And I just couldn't get to him fast enough to tell him, "You're not gonna fucking believe what he said. Listen." And Ben, the second he heard it, like, that's it.

Like, we knew, like, that's the— But Robin must have known because it came out of him. But when that line comes out of me, if ever I'm lucky enough to come up with something on the spot that just comes out in the moment and it works, I know it, and now I'm a dog with a bone. You know what I mean? I'm not gonna go start trying other stuff.

That is the thing I love about improv, I have to say, is it's like so many ideas are flung around, and a lot of them are jewels, and they're just thrown for free. It's like, "Here's 10 more." And you're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me pick these up." Each one could be interesting. But when you're with an incredible improviser, it's like, "I have a million of these." Like, "These are never gonna go away." That's what—

See, when I wrote— I wrote a movie that not many people saw called Promised Land with John Krasinski. And John and I joke about it because John's like Ben. He's got a supercomputer on board. He goes really fast. And I'm much more— I don't know. I got a Commodore 56 or whatever. So, my processing chip isn't quite as fast. And so, Jon would throw out a line of dialogue. We'd be sitting in the kitchen writing, and he'd throw out a line of dialogue. And my face would do something like this. And Jon would read that as, "He hates it." And then he'd give me another one, and then another. And now he's given me 5 lines of dialogue. And I'm— And I just go, I'm like, "Stop!" I'm like, "I'm still on the first one, Jon. I think the first one's really good." Now I gotta think about all these other ones because I think they're really good too. Just, you know, give me a minute. And I think, you know, yeah, you're right. They're like jewels that are falling on the ground.

And I'm like somebody who wants to pick up each one and go like, "We're gonna put this thing together like a Swiss watch." And that's why I think sometimes it's always like, I mean, it's interesting to watch people be able to be okay with that speed and stillness. It's what film actors do so well, is they allow things to just stay. And when you're coming up in, like, Like, from a comedy perspective, speed is where you get your self-esteem. It's everything. And you just have to sometimes just stop. You have to just stop. With that in mind, what was it like to work with Phil Hoffman, who— What an incredible actor. What was it like to be— 'Cause your character is really— You have to square off with him in this way that is— I mean, he's so intimidating in that scene.

He's so good in that movie. He's so good. He's good in— He was great in everything. But holy shit, he's good in that movie. Talk about a role where you come in and, I mean, he— That scene, the scene where he comes back, where I kill him in Towns of Mr. Ripley. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert, Odyssey, it's a long trip. He— I loved him because he— You know, we'd rehearse. There was a whole month of rehearsal, and we got to know each other, and, um— And, uh, but I hated him so much that day. You know what I mean? And he— because that's how he— It's like he, like, built the energy for that scene. It was like a fucking Marvel superhero coming out of him. And sucked me right into it. And we had this day of working where— And we liked each other. You know what I mean? But that was not— That wasn't in the room. And I just remember— I say it all the time because it really is the truth. When you're working with a great actor, they're great enough for both of you. And it's like, "Just paddle into the wave." Right.

"Just stand up." And that's it. And you just get transported. And that was what he was. I mean, he was just— Phenomenal.

Phenomenal. Yeah, he's incredible.

And his theater company was great. I used to go and see them.

Did you ever do anything like— Did you do a lot of theater in New York when you were—

No, no, I was working already. And the last play I did, in fact, Phil was there. We did— He— I think he was doing Jesus Hopped the A-Train, or he was directing it. I can't remember, but we were all over. And then Gwyneth was doing Proof. And Casey Affleck and I were— And Summer were doing This Is Our Youth. And we were all in the West End in the same summer. And none of us saw each other. In each other's plays 'cause we were on the same schedule. But we were all— It was like the Ripley reunion kind of, right? And I think Jude was, like, doing something that summer too, but we were all— Do you ever get a—

I'm sure you get offered all the time. Do you ever want to do something on Broadway? I've thought a lot about it.

It's the schedule that— Brutal. Until my youngest is a freshman, and once she's out of the nest, I would definitely do it. It's just not a great schedule for parenting. It's a crazy schedule.

All the SNL ladies are on Broadway this season. This summer. Like, they're all— Dratch is in Rocky Horror, and Ana's in Schmigadoon, Amaya's doing Oh Mary right now. I'm, like, watching them all do it. And I— we've had a bunch of Broadway actors on here. I just— having the hardest part of your day be the end of your day every day, sometimes twice a day, it's brutal. So hard.

And I remember, even if this is 20-something years ago, doing that play, and I love that play, and I love Kenny Lonergan. But this elation coming offstage when things went— when it was like, "Oh my God, that was something." And then that would last like 5 minutes, and then I'd go, "I have to do this twice tomorrow." And I remember thinking, "Why didn't someone just film that?" You guys are making this so unnecessarily difficult.

We can be in the can. We can be done. We could be in Toronto. We could show it in Toronto.

We should be at the festival. What is happening? Um, but, uh, but yeah, I mean, you know, Cheadle is doing Proof right now. I'm sure you saw that. He's fantastic. But how fun were those Ocean's movies, by the way?

Speaking of Cheadle, that looks like— I mean, what a boondoggle.

Not fun for Steven Soderbergh.

Yeah, he was the one that had to make them. And you guys were like having cappuccino and he was like, "Can we roll?" I mean, God, they look so fun.

They look so fun. They were really fun. And it was just a wonderful group of people. And the group changed, you know, it's like as the movies went along, you know, then suddenly, you know, people were married, people had babies, you know, we were loaning diapers to each other. You know what I mean? It was just a nice— It was a nice kind of run of life for us.

Yeah, you mentioned Clooney. We have a fun thing with— I don't know if you remember us and Clooney and you, because— What a Hollywood thing I just said. We have a fun thing, me, you, and Clooney. No, but when we poked fun at him at the Golden Globes, he's got a great, as do you, great sense of humor about himself. Do you know this, that he made stationery? Yeah. Okay, so— Not the first time he's done this, by the way. And by the way, and I've said this to his face, I'm not talking behind his back, I don't like pranks. I don't fuck with pranks.

I'm not a prank guy either.

I don't like it. I don't. It makes me stressed. He loves them enough for all of us.

He does. Yeah, he loves them.

And I'm like, don't do your weird pranks on me. And he's like, oh, okay. And anyway, Tina and I hosted the Golden Globes. We made a joke that now that you were in TV, you're basically a garbage person because you were there for just TV and you weren't in the movie section anymore. And you, of course, laughed and played along with it. George Clooney made stationery pretending he was you and sent us, like, a strongly worded letter saying, "That really hurt our feelings." Really, really hurt my feelings. Now, did he tell you he was gonna do it?

No. Okay, got it. No, the way I found out— And by the way, the only reason I found out was 'cause you guys sent me some, like, fruit basket or something. And I was like— I was so bewildered.

We were like, "We think this is a prank." That's right.

Yeah, you were on to the joke. But we're covering our bases. Just in case it's not.

Just in case it's not.

It's a real fruit basket.

And then I called one— I think I called Tina. I was like, "What the fuck?" 'Cause she lived right down the street from me at that time. I was on the Upper West Side. And then we put it together pretty quickly.

Yeah, it was Clooney's doings. But, um, but yeah, I guess Soderbergh is the one that has to make— It was such a well-crafted movie. Movie is so awesome.

That's him. I mean, I've done, I think, 10 movies with Soderbergh.

You've worked with him. Yeah, yeah.

I will do the phone book with Steven Soderbergh. I absolutely love working with him.

What do you love about working with him?

With him? Well, he's just— He's— It's like he sees The Matrix. Yeah. Like, really. I mean, by the time— So, when we did Behind the Candelabra in 2012— So good. But Steven would— I'd get to work, we'd shoot a scene, I'd go home at like 5 o'clock, because Steven operates the camera, is the editor, Um, is the cinematographer, um, and the director. And I'd go home, and the kids were little, and, uh, you know, we'd bathe them, we'd, we'd give them dinner, read them a story, put them to sleep. I'd come downstairs by like 8, 7:30 or 8 o'clock, and on my iPad there was a new delivery. And I'd open it up, and it was the scene we shot that day, fully scored, as it was going to appear in the movie. When it came out 9 months later. Holy shit! Yeah. So, for Michael and me— Oh, wow. —to, you know, you're playing this relationship, which is this kind of dysfunctional relationship, a kind of descent into drugs, and it unfolds over time. And so, to calibrate the performance is difficult, but not when you can watch— Yeah. What you just did. Here's the scene that's going to happen after this, and here's the scene that just happened before this.

I know. And then it's even like, He's like, "All right, I'm starting on Michael's face." And you know exactly where you are at all times in the movie.

Oh, God, that feels really comforting.

It's unbelievable. It's like— And I always say, like, the only excuse an actor has, and it's a legitimate excuse if you suck in a movie, is, "I didn't know what movie I was in." Yeah. That's a totally fair— Like, if the director just couldn't communicate the tone and didn't, you know, couldn't— It's very easy to be in the wrong movie. Here's another Soderbergh story. Like, I did this movie with him, The Informant! Mm-hmm. Great movie. And yeah, I love that one. And we shot a scene where my character had to apologize to the entire town. Basically, he stood up in court, and we had the transcript of what he said, and those were my lines. And so, we're in Illinois, I think it was Springfield, Illinois, in the courthouse he was actually in. And the entire cast, cast is there because they're all sitting in the gallery, and they're the people that I need to apologize to. And so I stand up and I, I start this apology, and I get, I get legitimately choked up. I don't mean to, I'm trying not to. And, and I get through it, and Stephen's kind of shooting a wide shot on the other side, and I hear cut, and he walks over, and I'm sitting at the defense table, and he kind of He comes up and he goes, "No." I'm like, "No?

So, fuck you, no." I go, "That shit just happened, man. That was real." He goes, "Yeah, yeah, no, no. You're in the wrong movie." And I went, "Oh, okay. Get me in the right movie." And he sits there and he thinks for a second and he goes, "Do it like an awards acceptance speech." Oh, incredible direction. Yeah, because it was like, "Yeah, this was this guy's moment." It wasn't, "I'm admitting my—" It was, "Everyone's here for me." Yes, that's it. I was like, "This is incredible. This is like, wow." Right? And I think that's what I said. Like, "Wow." You know?

And it's like— So interesting.

Now, both scenes in a vacuum—

Also, like, you know, it makes sense that, like, I had a real emotion. Like, I really felt something. Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing here?

It's connected to the part of me. That's how this is supposed to go. Oh, yeah.

But not if you're in the wrong movie. Mm-hmm. Okay. And so, Christopher Nolan, um, The Odyssey, we're talking about it. You're back with him again. You've made 3 films with him. And so, we do this thing where we talk to somebody before our guest comes in and talk well behind their back. And I got to talk to Christopher, and I was a little intimidated, to be honest. He's very intimidating. Wore a suit, drank tea, and is so good at directing and just such a nice guy. A formidable artist and, like, really such a— like, the director of this decade in so many ways. And you know this because you've worked with him so many times. But he's asking a lot of you. And you just said earlier, like, that's the part that you're realizing, "Oh, I'm not gonna complain about this. I'm actually gonna— I'm gonna decide that this is gonna be the most, like, fulfilling, incredible experience." But it is still a physical experience. Like, it still means that you have to get up get in probably the best shape of your life. And as a person of similar age, it's like, it's one thing running and punching and born in your 30s.

It's way different to be getting jacked in your 50s. It's really hard.

It's just a complete, complete lifestyle change.

Right. So everything goes away.

There's no planning it. Like any other time I tried to do something like that, it was always like, well, I'll time my workouts and my thing. And this was like, no. No. Just everything. Yeah. Just put your foot on the gas. Yeah. And that's it. And that's the only way to do it. Yeah. And eat a little less.

But no, like no gluten.

No, no gluten, which changed my life.

Are you still no gluten? Still no gluten.

You don't have any desire for it anymore? Because of what it does to me. Yeah. Like I didn't realize the level to which I didn't know.

Well, it's funny you say that 'cause I feel like our generation, like a lot of food allergies and stuff or whatever, or sensitivities. We didn't really have that. Like, we didn't talk about that.

We didn't talk about it. And I didn't realize the level to which it was affecting me and affecting my life. Like, it's completely changed my life these last couple years of not eating it. And so that's made it— like, it's a bummer. Like, I'm a big fan of bread and beer. You know what I mean? Like, I— so, you know, pasta and pizza and all that stuff. But how I feel is just—

just so much better. Yeah, incredible. Okay, and then, um, uh, sleep. What's your sleep situation? Do you, do you sleep?

Yeah, I mean, we do love to sleep.

I do.

You've got teenagers in the house, but, you know, like, once you had kids, did you ever sleep well again? No. Yeah, like, all the way.

Like, it wasn't until they got older. Like, it was this huge stretch where I didn't sleep for— I felt like for like 10 years.

Yeah, I feel I've been a lighter sleeper, but on this movie, there was— We, like, me and the PAs, we had this kind of joke called the Odyssey Five. If you could get 5 hours, like, you were thrilled. That's tough. Yeah. That's not a lot of sleep. It's not a lot of sleep.

But it was enough. Yeah, it was enough. I get it.

But I did realize that 5 is the cutoff. 'Cause there were some 4 nights. There were some no nights. I had 2 nights where I did not sleep. Because you were working? No, because I got home and I was overly tired, and then just did that thing where I'm just sitting there, and I missed the window, and now I'm panicking because—

And you were like, "Tomorrow, I literally have to lift a rock through the mud." Yeah. Like, every day— "I have to do sprints tomorrow all day." It seems like so hard.

It was hard. It was hard for everybody, though. That's what made it wonderful.

It's funny you talk about other departments, because Kristin and I, this question for you, he had a question for you, which was basically like, "Why haven't you directed?" He said, and I quote, "You would be an amazing director. You'd probably be better than me." He lies in interviews.

That's his— That's what he said. That's a lovely thing to say. That's not true, but it's a very lovely thing to say. I almost directed a couple things. I almost directed that movie, Promised Land, in 2012, but— I ran long on another movie, and I would've had to come down home, put my bags down, and leave again. And so I bowed out and then called Gus Van Sant, who then stepped in and directed it. So, as a producer, I made the movie better. Right. And then another movie that John Krasinski and I commissioned Kenny to write, Manchester by the Sea, and I was gonna direct it. Incredible movie. And then as the script, as it started to come in, And I was like, "Kenny, this— You gotta do it." And I was gonna play the part. And we were about to start shooting, but, like, we were behind. We couldn't get the production office open. We were, like, 5 weeks out. And I called Kenny, and I was like, "I'm putting you in a position to fail here. Like, let's take a breath." And I didn't have anything for 2 years. Or I'm sorry, I had worked for 2 years, and Kenny was ready to go.

And I was like, "All right, the only person I'm giving this role to is Casey," 'cause we'd all done the play together in London, and we're all friends. Friends. And I'm like, "This is the best role that I've seen in a long time." But we were able to get it financed with Casey. And he stole that Oscar from you.

That's how he returned the favor. He took your fucking Oscar.

I like to say I gave it to him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind that, right?

Yeah, not at all.

After ripping his heart open in that performance.

"I allowed you to have it." I would do. Um, okay, lightning round as we end. You have 4 girls. You have— you've talked so much about how great it is. Like, you know, do you know the fact— the research shows that like the more daughters you have, the longer you live? Did you know that?

I believe it. I've never heard that before.

Yeah, there's, um, research that says like you get like a year or something added to your life with each daughter. That's great. And mothers lose a year for each child they have. So congrats. Oh really? Yes, of course. Boy or girl? The dads get— yes, doesn't matter. The dads get all the years. Right, right. And Mothers wither away.

Yeah, that sounds totally fair.

No, but having all these women in your life, in your house, like, and all, like, what's the biggest joy? Speaking about joy, what's the biggest joy about watching them get older and grow up and become real people in the world? What's it?

Oh, wow. I mean, they're just incredible. I mean, they're all, they're so different. And so different from one another.

And are they like launching into the world now in different ways?

Like, they're— yeah, my, um, uh, you know, I've got one about to turn 28, one who just turned 20, um, and then we still have two in the nest, uh, 17, almost 18, and, uh, and 15. Yeah. Um, they're just, they're just amazing. They're my favorite people. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And I feel very lucky that, that, you know, I grew up with just a brother, and it was just a side of the, the human experience that I just didn't have access to. And, and I, and I, and I got that in the, in, you know, that next chapter of my life. And it's, it's just been beautiful.

Okay. And your comfort watch, what, uh, what are you like, what, you know, I was thinking about, I was like, wow, when Matt's like changing the channels and watching movies, there must be a lot of times where you're like, I was in that, I work with that person, you know, like I almost got that part. There's a lot of movies that you've been in and a lot of movies that you know a lot about or that you've produced or that. So what is a comfort watch, one that you can watch where you can check out and be like, "If it's on, I'm watching it." Usually, Will Ferrell's movies, you know, like, in our house, you kind of can't go wrong with him.

Like, he— we've watched, you know, Step Brothers and Talladega Nights, you know, again and again and again. Yeah. Blades of Glory too. Oh my God! 'Cause, you know, and Will Speck is a great friend of ours. Yes, that's right. Will's great. That is one of them. That's definitely in the pantheon of—

Oh my God, that movie. How fun and dumb that movie is.

It's so genius.

Okay. And water, how do we fix it? Oh my gosh. Well— And this is a speed round. But I mean, I've been reading the work you're doing. It's incredible. What should we be doing? What can we do?

You could go check out water.org, and you can donate directly. Or there's this new— we have Get Blue, which we launched this summer, which is if you see anything that says "Get Blue" on it, or if, you know, there's hoodies and t-shirts at The Gap that say #GetBlue. There are— you can go to Starbucks and get a blue matcha or a coconut refresher, and proceeds from that will go to water.org and to the work we're doing. And we've reached 92 million people so far, you know, which is really something because we do it through microfinance, through these small microloans. And had we stayed with drilling wells, it would have taken us 600 years to get to where we are right now. So it's scaling, it's a sustainable solution, and there's a lot more to be done. It's amazing.

Talk about the Odyssey, man. Yeah, that's a big one. 600 years is too long. Okay, so last question I ask everybody, anything you're watching right now that's making you laugh, video, a scene from a show.

I literally last night. Okay, great. So my kids are watching this this thing called Love Island.

Oh yeah, the teens are obsessed.

I couldn't do it. I mean, I can't do it.

I get too much, um, embarrassment.

Yeah, I couldn't. But, but before— and then we literally sat down, we had some friends visiting, then they have a teenage daughter and they're staying with us. And so the kids at dinner were like, we're gonna watch this thing. So we sat down and it didn't come on till 9, and so we're flicking and there's something called Temptation Island. Oh yeah. And so that— and so I guess we look at the little thing and I'm like, you guys want to give this a shot for an hour before Love Island comes on? And I mean, it was—

it did not disappoint. Am I wrong that Temptation Island is if you make out or have sex, you're out? No, I—

from what I could understand—

okay, that's— wait, that's called Too Hot to Something.

I watched— I watched episode Episode 1 of season 2 last night, and it was— they introduced these 4 couples. 4 unmarried couples.

Yeah, 4 unmarried couples travel to a tropical island to have their fidelity tested. Which— so they bring in people, they bring in hot singles.

It was so funny. So they, they bring in these, you know, the hot singles, and all the guys come in and like rip their shirts off, and they're like, you made a mistake bringing her here, bro.

I gotta watch.

I don't know how long it lasts. We did make it through an episode, but it was really funny. Oh, that's great. And my friend, she's visiting with her daughter and we were howling. But it's these 4 couples and you're like, and the kids are like trying to, they're taking bets on which couples are gonna make it. Sure. And I'm like, you know, guys, I doubt if they all just were faithful to each other, there wouldn't be much of a show.

So I have a feeling. I feel like someone's gonna bump up. You're gonna see some cracks in the veneer. Also, the acting exercise of having to come in and be so confident. It's unbelievable. Like, I'm breaking you guys up. I know, I know.

It's unbelievable. The women and the men, they're just, you've never seen more confident people. Couples get all, you know, they do these in-depth interviews and then, you know, where it's just like, you know, he's had a problem with fidelity in the past.

But this time is gonna be better.

This time he's gonna prove it by going to Temptation Island. Island. And like, you see these guys, like, they get split up into— so the, the 4 guys who are in the couples, they get split up from their partner and they go into a house with these, you know, 10 gorgeous women.

Yeah, some honeypots over there.

Like, you see them, these guys start to crack within 30 seconds. They're like, well, I mean, I didn't know it was going to be like this.

I mean, what is a man supposed to do? Exactly.

And it's also the They're all in their 20s, and they're all like, you know, "I mean, she really means a lot to me. We've been together for 15 months." And he's like, "I mean, after 6 months, I mean, I had my lapse, and I was unfaithful to her, but since then, I've been—" And you're just like, "This is a fucking disaster. I don't know if I'll hang in there." I made it through one episode. We had some laughs.

I love that your kids are like, "I don't know.

They seem pretty in love." And you're like, "I have a feeling someone's gonna fold." Just from a writing perspective, I can tell you, We're gonna need some— a little more conflict.

It would be so sad too for that casting, and they're like, "Good news is you got Temptation Island." "Oh my God, exciting!" "Bad news is you're not coming in to tempt any of the people." "Why not?" "We just thought it would be better if you were the lady that worked at the island." Well, Matt, thank you so much for coming and doing this. It was such a blast. Yeah, had a ball. Congrats on this incredible movie and all the work you do. And thanks so much for being here.

I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Matt Damon, hometown hero of mine, Boston boy done good. Thank you for coming, and what a pleasure to talk to you. And your work is incredible, so congrats on that and keep doing it. And for this polar plunge, you know, Matt talked very briefly about something that he created, a global nonprofit at water.org. But what it really is, is is an incredible organization founded by himself and Gary White, and they provide microloans to, you know, make sure that there's clean water and proper sanitation all over the world. So it's pretty awesome. I mean, sometimes on these plunges, I talk about, "Oh, I don't know a song I'm listening to," or I could use this plunge to, you know, goof around about The Martian, but no, I wanna just remind you to go— Donate time, energy, or money to water.org and go see The Odyssey. I mean, The Odyssey doesn't need me to pump it. Everyone in the world is gonna go see it. Okay, thanks for listening for Good Hang. Okay, bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler.

The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Xaneres. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. I lie on the one who was really good.

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