Matt Damon talks with Access about his “frustration” about being followed by the paparazzi. Also, he chats about his digital short with Andy Samberg on “Saturday Night Live.” Plus, Matt reveals details about his sci-fi movie, “Elysium.”
Matt Damon's moment of unfiltered honesty was followed immediately by another in a rare one-man Hollywood feud.
In the January issue of "GQ," the "We Bought a Zoo" star discusses his massively successful "Bourne" film series, and the rocky road the third installment took from development to theaters. In doing so, Damon - long known as a decent, upstanding guy in a business that lacks them - seemed to uncharacteristically attack writer Tony Gilroy.
Revealing that Gilroy was paid a large sum of money for one draft of a script, Damon says, "It's really the studio’s fault for putting themselves in that position. I don't blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It’s just that it was unreadable."
But he didn't stop there. "This is a career-ender. I mean, I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude," Damon says. "It's terrible. It's really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left."
Almost immediately, however, Damon contacted the writer of the piece to apologize for his unflattering comments.
"If I didn't respect him and appreciate his talent, then I really wouldn't have cared," admitted Damon. "My feelings were hurt. That's all. And that's exactly why I shouldn’t have said anything. This is between me and him. So saying anything publicly is f***ing stupid and unprofessional and just kind of douchey of me."
Gilroy, meanwhile, is writing and directing "The Bourne Legacy," a fourth installment in the series that focuses on a new agent (played by Jeremy Renner) and does not involve Damon's Jason Bourne.
