52 years old, Matt Damon distinguished himself in many roles, such as in Le Mans 66Will Hunting, Seul sur Mars, Ocean’s Eleven or Invictus, to quote them. But did you know that the interpreter of Jason Bourne might also have played in the most seen film in the history of cinema, Avatar ? Indeed, fifteen years ago, James Cameron, the director, had offered him the role of Jake Sully, the main character of the project. On the occasion of the release ofAvatar: The WaterwayDecember 14, 2022, thirteen years following the release of the first part, Matt Damon was necessarily asked regarding his choice to have turned down one of the biggest roles of his career, remunerated by the filmmaker 250 million dollars. If he necessarily regrets having let slip this sublime opportunity to play alongside James Cameron in the highest-grossing film at the box office, he revealed he had no other choice.
“James Cameron told me I was going to go down in history”: Matt Damon recalls his audition for Avatar
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If James Cameron has met several actors for the role of Jake Sully, he had first bet on Matt Damon. From the US site Deadline, the comedian shared how his audition went: “James Cameron offered me the film, promising me 10% of the film’s profits for the lead role. He then told me that I was going to make history and that I would never meet another actor who would refuse that much money.” However, Matt Damon finally proved the filmmaker wrong by deciding to leave Jake Sully’s place to Sam Worthington in the role ofAvatar.
The real reason Matt Damon turned down the lead role in Avatar
Matt Damon made it clear that he did not turn down this monumental role because he did not believe in the project or because he did not like James Cameron. It’s even quite the opposite: he has always dreamed of working with this filmmaker, even without receiving so much money. “He was at the top of the list of directors I wanted to work with! When I spoke to him, he told me he had only done six films. And I remember being shocked by that. I knew all of them. his movies and I felt like he had done a lot more. He very rarely works. Now another ten years will have passed before he does another one.” he explained. However, Matt Damon turned down the role as he had already committed to The Bourne Ultimatum (The Vengeance in the skin) and he mightn’t see himself abandoning the whole team along the way. “I should have screwed up the people working on The Bourne Ultimatum and I mightn’t do it for moral issues. I wanted to be able to sleep at night. For me, the biggest tragedy of this story was that I missed a chance to working with James Cameron. But really at the time, I had no choice.” he revealed during his interview with The Talks writer Rüdiger Sturm.
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Article written in collaboration with 6medias
