The BOURNE trilogy and GOOD WILL HUNTING star Matt Damon is set to make his debut in the director’s chair. After developing an idea with author Dave Eggers, he co-wrote the project with actor John Krasinski, who is famous for his roles in THE OFFICE and IT’S COMPLICATED. It has now been announced that BURN AFTER READING star Frances McDormand has joined Damon and Krasinski in the cast of the upcoming untitled film, about a salesman who arrives in a small town only to have his whole life called into question.
As an actor, Damon has been able to work with some of the finest directing talent, including the likes of Gus Van Sant, Steven Soderbergh and Steven Spielberg, which has thought the talented actor a lot about the filmmaking process. In a recent interview, Damon explained how Anthony Minghella, who directed him in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, gave him one of the best pieces of advice.
When talking about the business of directing, Minghella said, ‘You don’t know this yet but we all live on an island and we don’t get to visit each others islands. We just kind of make it up as we go along and that’s why I think actors make such good directors, because you get to go to all these different islands. You get to see inside all these different processes and take what works for you and put it in your own process’.
Damon added, ‘… that made a lot of sense to me and so I’ve been thinking about these last twelve or thirteen years as a chance to apprentice myself to these incredible people and I’ve learned a bunch from each of them’.
Despite the pressure Damon must be feeling for his debut, he seems to be excited to put his skills to the test. He knows that he must make a good first impression, but as he says himself, ‘those aren’t thoughts that are necessarily helpful or that will make for a better movie’. But if his directing is as good as his acting and writing, it should be smooth sailing for him.
Source: Firstshowing
