TORONTO—Hollywood A-list star Matt Damon is on the short list for most producers and directors for upcoming films, however, that was not the case back in 2001 when he was offered the role in his current film ‘The Informant!’ which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend.
Steven Soderbergh reached out to Damon at that time, which happened to be during a career slump, and when Damon received the call he had thought it was a demotion of sorts.
“I had just had two movies come out. It was 2001 and the two movies that had come out had really tanked, and I was shooting the Bourne Identity, and we were on our fourth round of re-shoots, and the film had been delayed for a year.
“So all the indicators were that that was going to be a turkey too, and the standard rule of three, is like you are done after that, so I was thinking that I was going to have to go back to writing because no one had offered me a job in like 9 months.”
“And it was in that climate that I got a phone call from [Stephen], and he said he had found something for us to work on.
“Now, I haven’t spoken to him for months and it was like we just talked the day before, and I was like ‘what are you talking about’, and I was really kind of confused, and I actually asked him during the phone call… he said its this thing called “The Informant”, I am going to send you 80 pages, and when you get back to New York buy the book and read the book, [and I was like] you want me to adapt the book? I thought he was giving me a job as a writer.”
“And he said no, no, no, we got Scott Burns to do the script, but I want you to star in the movie, and I am going to direct it.”
Corporate Whistleblower
‘The Informant!’ is a dark comedy based upon a true story, with Damon starring as Mark Whitacre, executive employee, for a conglomerate, who blows the whistle about his company’s price fixing tactics to FBI agent Brian Shepard, played by Scott Bakula.
Whitacre’s decision to incriminate his company and fellow corporate colleagues leads him on a trail of deception, which hilariously unfolds on screen through his character’s bipolar disorder.
Damon went out of the general physical state of most of his previous performances growing a mustache, wearing a wig, and gaining 30 pounds for the role.
Both Damon and Soderbergh tried to play down the buzz associated with a potential Oscar win.
“I just want it to make money,” said Soderbergh.
‘The Informant!’ opens nationwide on September 18.
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