"Damon lost about 25kg for a handful of scenes as the traumatised, heroin-addicted young Gulf war veteran recalling a rescue mission in which his commanding officer (Meg Ryan) was killed. The sudden weight loss left him reeling: I was looking for something to set me apart: Look what I'll do, I'll kill myself!' It paid off. Directors took note of it."
"In this scattershot political thriller, Damon's storyline has a crisp moral complexity. He plays Bryan Woodman, an energy analyst whose oldest son dies accidentally during a party at the home of a Middle Eastern emir. Woodman is later mollified with a lucrative contract from the emir's family. How much for my other kid? he asks caustically before accepting the offer. That's capitalism."
"She plays Damon's wife, who brings back from her Hong Kong business trip something more original than a giant Toblerone: a deadly virus. She expires messily soon after, as does their son, leaving Damon to fend for himself and their teenage daughter amid the ensuing pandemic. Steven Soderbergh's 1970s-style all-star disaster movie was a hit on release, then found its second wind during Covid."
Matt Damon often excels when he transforms into morally complex or beastly characters, using physical and psychological shifts to create memorable performances. Early roles included a flagrantly nasty prep-school bully and a traumatised, heroin-addicted Gulf war veteran for which he lost about 25kg. The sudden weight loss and intense commitment drew industry attention. He plays Bryan Woodman in Syriana, portraying an energy analyst shaped by tragic family loss and moral ambiguity and mollified by a lucrative contract. In Contagion he portrays a grieving father after his wife brings back a deadly virus, navigating pandemic chaos. He also demonstrates comic range in films like Stuck on You. Directors responded to his willingness to take risks, and his filmography spans political thrillers, disaster dramas, and broad comedy while often highlighting capitalism, personal trauma, and ethical dilemmas.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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