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Matt Damon just shared what Tom Cruise said to him about taking safety measures on set, and it’s somewhat unsettling.
Matt Damon has done his fair share of action movies, and he’s no stranger to following certain safety measures while on set. But not all actors feel the same way about following these rules, and Tom Cruise appears to be one of them.
In a recent episode of Smartless: On The Road on Max, Damon got candid with hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, as was reported by Yahoo.com, particularly about his work with the Bourne franchise. And while sharing what it’s like to perform different stunts, he couldn’t help but remember a particularly chilling conversation he once had with one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood, Tom Cruise.
In his recount, Damon talks about having dinner with Cruise and asking him what it was like doing stunts for the Mission Impossible movies. According to the Bourne star, Cruise explained his thought process around the now-famous climb up the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
“[Cruise] goes, ‘I’ve been thinking about this shot for 15 years!’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, really?'” recalled Damon on the show. “He goes, ‘So I go to the safety guy, and I lay it all out.’ Safety guy goes, ‘We can’t do that. It’s too dangerous, you can’t do that. So I get a new safety guy.’ That’s the beginning of his story.”
Damon went on to explain to Bateman, Arnett, and Hayes that it was this conversation that led him to believe he wasn’t the same type of action star, sharing, “And I just go, ‘Stop!’ That’s where we’re different. When the safety guy says no, I’m like, ‘Well, safety guy says it’s not a good idea.'”
Matt Damon Is Particular About The Roles He Takes
This isn’t the first time Damon has set himself apart from other actors and particular franchises. In fact, Damon was once reportedly approached by award-winning director James Cameron to star in Avatar, but turned it down because it conflicted with his involvement in the Bourne movies.
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“I was offered a little movie called Avatar, James Cameron offered me 10% of it,” Damon supposedly dished during his Cannes Film masterclass, as was reported by DEADLINE. “I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.”
While Damon turned down a role in Avatar, he clearly isn’t hurting for cash, as he’s continued to star in plenty of high-grossing films over the course of his career.
Matt Damon Doesn’t Like Listening to Critics’ Opinions, Especially When It Comes To Working With BFF Ben Affleck
The world was introduced to the remarkable friend duo back in 1997 when Good Will Hunting, a film they co-wrote and both starred in, was released. Even though they were praised for their work on the movie, Ben Affleck and Damon felt the pressure of needing to go down their separate paths in Hollywood.
“We fell prey to this idea that, ‘Well, if you don’t individuate your careers and do your own things, people will always associate you together. That will be limiting,’” Affleck reportedly shared about Damon and his career choices with The Hollywood Reporter in March 2023.
Whether it’s regarding stunt work or directors to work with, Damon seems to have made a lot of good moves on the Hollywood scene.
