She didn’t like them apples.
Matt Damon and wife Luciana Barroso made a deal while in couples therapy — after a lengthy profession and countless nights away from home, the 52-year-old promised to take a break from acting.
Nevertheless, there was one condition — if director Christopher Nolan were to call, Damon had a “get out of jail” free card.
“That is going to sound made up, nevertheless it’s actually true,” the star told Entertainment Weekly.
“I had — to not get too personal — negotiated extensively with my wife that I used to be taking break day. I had been in ‘Interstellar’ after which Chris put me on ice for a pair of films, so I wasn’t within the rotation, but I actually negotiated in couples therapy… the one caveat to my taking break day was if Chris Nolan called. That is without knowing whether or not he was working on anything, because he never tells you. He just calls you out of the blue,” Damon said.
So, when Nolan contacted Damon to supply him the role of General Leslie Groves, director of The Manhattan Project within the hotly anticipated summer movie “Oppenheimer,” that was, as Damon put it, “a moment in my household.”
Damon stars alongside Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Emily Blunt in what’s tipped to be considered one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters, opening July 21.
Damon wouldn’t specify why he and his wife were looking for therapy in the primary place, however the two were spotted packing on the PDA on a European vacation earlier this month.
The “Bourne” series star and former bartender Barroso have been married since 2005. The couple have three daughters together: Isabella, 17, Gia, 14, and Stella, 12. Damon also has a stepdaughter from Barroso’s previous marriage, Alexia, 24.
Perhaps in an effort to smooth over his broken promise to his wife, Damon brought his whole family to the “Oppenheimer” premiere. His children are rarely seen in public.
Lately, Damon’s profession has been going full tilt, as he’s launched a production company with longtime pal Ben Affleck. He’s also starred in and produced a wide selection of films back to back, including “Air,” “The Last Duel,” and even appeared in minor roles within the “Thor” movies.
He’s also recently revealed that when movies haven’t gone in addition to he’s hoped, it has caused him to “fall right into a depression.”
Meanwhile, Nolan, 52, has been telling reporters he’s not thinking about directing one other superhero movie after his “Batman” trilogy, starring Christian Bale. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Nolan blasted studios for specializing in a movie’s plot above all else.
“Whether for budgetary reasons or reasons of control, studios now take a look at a screenplay as a series of events and say, ‘That is the essence of what the film is.’ And that’s completely at odds with how cinema developed…” Nolan said.
“But it surely’s a very talked-about fallacy — sometimes with critics as well, quite frankly — that every one that matters is the dimensions of the story being told. People will inform you that the success of ‘Star Wars’ had nothing to do with its visual effects, and it was all right down to its great story,” Nolan continued.
“But, I mean, clearly that’s not the case. It’s indeed an amazing story, nevertheless it’s also an incredible visual and aural experience. So this willful denial of what movies actually are has set in.”
