Matt Damon teamed up with Unforgiven filmmaker Clint Eastwood twice in his career. By doing so, Damon learned a lot about himself as an actor.

What Matt Damon got out of working with Clint Eastwood

Damon worked with two of his acting idols in the 2009 feature Invictus. The sports drama saw him collaborating alongside Eastwood and Morgan Freeman for the first time. Just one year later, he teamed up with Eastwood again for Hereafter. In a resurfaced interview with Orange County Register, Damon explained what made him want to work with Eastwood for a second time so soon.

“It’s just his philosophy on work, and how he’s managed to be different all the time,” Damon said. “It’s the mark of true artist to defy any categorization for six decades in the movie business. To bathe in the glory of that example is a good reason to want to work with him. He is the goal. He is the one who my friends talk about when they talk about where they want to be. Ben [Affleck] and [George] Clooney; Clint has the career they want. We’re all going into our 40s, and we want to believe we can do this at a high level for another four decades.”

Damon picked Eastwood’s brain on directors, and why many filmmakers experienced a decline as they got older unlike Eastwood.

“He thought about it for a minute and said, ‘I just don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense to me,’” he said.

The Bourne Identity star believed Eastwood helped make him a better actor, but he couldn’t really pinpoint in what way.

“It’s hard to explain how somebody makes you better. It’s just the way you feel. I suppose part of it is because Clint is so good in creating a relaxed atmosphere. And his crew is experienced. They know what they’re doing. They help to make you better, too,” he said.

Clint Eastwood’s film sets are the most accommodating to actors according to Matt Damon

Damon gave further insight into what it was like being on the Dirty Harry star’s movie set. Based on the two times they’ve collaborated, Damon considered Eastwood’s work environment to be pretty actor-friendly. Especially compared to other movie sets that might be more chaotic.

“You’ve got people running around with walkie-talkies, and barking and screaming into bullhorns. It can absolutely cripple your concentration. And all that goes away on a Clint set because he’s an actor. There is no panic on his set. It’s a much calmer environment,” Damon said.

Damon felt this was another reason why he was such a capable actor when in Eastwood’s hands.

“It’s an intangible thing. A bad director can ruin a performance by getting inside your head. And it’s easy to do that. Acting is a pretty fragile little game. It’s easy to make people nervous, and movie sets were built traditionally to be unfriendly to actors,” he added.

Clint Eastwood chewed out Matt Damon for almost breaking his one-take rule

One of the ways Eastwood has stood out as a filmmaker is due to his sufficiency. He’s known for only doing a couple of takes for his actors, which helps make the film process faster than usual. Although Damon knew about the rule, he tested it with Eastwood in Invictus after asking the director for another take.

“Clint says, ‘Cut, print, check the gate,’ which means, ‘We’re done here, let’s move on,’” Damon recalled on an episode of First We Feast. “I say, ‘Boss, do you think maybe we can get one more?’ He just turns and he goes, ‘Why? Do you want to waste everybody’s time?’ I was like,’ OK, we’re done! Alright, let’s move on.’”