“What have I done?”: One Movie Almost Gave Matt Damon Mind-Numbing Depression /d

Matt Damon attended the Golden Globes Awards to cheer for his movie Oppenheimer, which enjoyed a prolific outing at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The documentary feature took home a total of five awards, including best drama.

The actor, who portrayed Leslie Groves – the director of the Manhattan Project – didn’t win any individual honor, but there’s no doubt being part of the Christopher Nolan venture was rewarding on its own for him. Damon is such a big fan of how Nolan works that he changed his plans for an acting break when the filmmaker approached.

However, not every experience on the set is as satisfying as Nolan’s projects. In fact, during the development of one movie, Damon fell into a depression.

How Matt Damon Fell Into Depression During the Shooting of One Movie

In the last three decades, Matt Damon has been part of many critically acclaimed projects, including Good Will Hunting, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The Martian among others. Christopher Nolan-directed Oppenheimer has only managed to extend that esteemed acting catalog further.

Matt Damon and Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer.

Many of these movies have also helped Damon earn applause at the Academy Awards over the years. In total, he has earned six Oscar nominations in the acting and writing categories. At the same time, the 53-year-old has also featured in critically disappointing movies that his fans seldom talk about. And at times, the actor has even regretted agreeing to do them in the first place.

During an interview with the YouTube channel Jake’s Takes, Damon talked about one such project, albeit keeping the name to himself during the criticism. He revealed:

“Without naming any particular movies… sometimes you find yourself in a movie that you know, perhaps, might not be what you had hoped it would be, and you’re still making it. And I remember halfway through production and you’ve still got months to go and you’ve taken your family somewhere, you know, and you’ve inconvenienced them, and I remember my wife pulling me up because I fell into a depression about like, what have I done?”

However, during such tricky times, Damon’s wife, Luciana Barroso, has proven to be a big support. He added that Luciana, who tied the knot with him in 2005, has helped him remain professional through his ordeal.

Why Matt Damon Refused to Be Part of James Cameron’s Avatar

Damon’s most commendable show of professionalism came to the fore before the development of Avatar kicked on. James Cameron was assembling his cast for the epic science fiction film and accordingly got in touch with the Interstellar star.

Franka Potente and Matt Damon | The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

At the time, he was tied with the Bourne series so he declined Cameron’s offer. Explaining his decision in an interview with Chris Wallace (via IndieWire), he said:

“I had a contract. I was in the middle of shooting the ‘Bourne’ movie and I knew that we were going to need work at the end, and I had to get it all the way to the finish line, and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that. I desperately wanted to work with Cameron. I mean, because he worked so rarely.”

It’s understood that his total earnings from Avatar would’ve depended on his salary plus backend box office profits, meaning he would have bagged at least $250 million from it, as its box office earnings remarkably crossed the $2.5 billion mark. This certainly might be up there with one of his career’s biggest regrets.