New York [US], August 2 (ANI): Actor and film producer Matt Damon is collaborating with his ‘Oppenheimer’ co-star and Ben Affleck’s brother Casey Affleck for Doug Liman’s upcoming heist comedy film ‘The Instigators’. During the New York premiere of the film, Damon spoke about their friendship and shared experience of working together, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are known as an enduring dynamic duo in Hollywood — but now it’s time for Damon to share the marquee with another member of the Affleck family. Damon and Casey Affleck are the stars of Doug Liman’s upcoming Apple heist comedy film The Instigators, which sees the longtime friends return to their native Massachusetts to play a pair of ill-equipped robbers.
Damon and Casey attended the film’s New York premiere, joined by director Liman and co-stars Hong Chau and Jack Harlow.
Damon grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, alongside Casey and Ben Affleck. They all starred in the Oscar-winning drama ‘Good Will Hunting’ over 20 years ago. Damon talked about the finest aspect of working with the Affleck brothers at this stage in their careers, now that he has more experience and many memories.
“I think just 43 years into this friendship, it’s just the joy of doing what we love, but being able to do it together. It just doesn’t get any better than that,” said Damon.
“I feel really lucky to be able to still be making movies at this level with the kind of people that I get to work with. But when some of them are the people that have been my closest and dearest friends for over four decades, it’s a really special thing,” he added.
Liman commented that he hadn’t seen such chemistry in one of his films since filming Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in his 2005 action-comedy, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’. Their friendship is visible both on and off screen.
Damon is close to both Affleck brothers but is most known for his connection with Ben. Their collaborations include ‘Air’, ‘The Last Duel’, and ‘Good Will Hunting’. Ben Affleck and Damon co-produced ‘The Instigators’ through their Artists Equity production firm.
Liman addressed the subject of whether the older Affleck was ever considered for a role in the picture, implying that he purposefully stayed offscreen to allow his brother to take the spotlight.
He said, “I’m kind of like someone who’s just shown up to a family Thanksgiving and you’re learning all of the family dynamics. So my sense was that Casey’s always been a little bit under Ben’s shadow, and The Instigators was a chance to let Casey shine free and clear without being in anyone’s shadow. I think it was clear how much Ben loves and supports his brother — and I think part of that was not casting any shadow over Casey and letting Casey shine,” as per The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)
