After Solitude, Controversies Bring 'Martian' Matt Damon Back To Earth
It's a classic story: A man stranded in a remote, forbidding land, left to scrabble a hard existence while he waits for help that might never come. Think of Robinson Crusoe, Tom Hanks and his beloved volleyball Wilson in Castaway -- even Gilligan's Island, for that matter.
Now, add another to that list: Mark Watney, an astronaut marooned on Mars in the new film The Martian. The movie is directed by Sir Ridley Scott, adapted from Andy Weir's best-selling novel, and filled with A-list stars like Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Mostly, though, the movie consists of Matt Damon, who plays Watney — talking to himself and his computer, while tackling obstacles like growing potatoes in human fertilizer.
"It felt like a bit of a risk, and it was unlike anything I'd done before," Damon tells NPR's Scott Simon. "But that was also something that was exciting about it. And then when Ridley came on the project, you know, that made my decision really easy. All that risk is kind of mitigated by having a master director at the helm."
Interview Highlights
On the solitude of Mark Watney
There was one scene that — you know, it's the scene where he finally cracks. That just kind of happened, and it was because Ridley, being clever — there's a scene where I'm taking off in this Mars ascent vehicle in the hopes of rendezvousing with my crew.
They weren't there; they'd shot and left a couple weeks earlier. But Ridley had the audio of their scene and I had an earpiece in my ear, and quite unexpectedly, I started to hear the voices of my crewmates who had come back to get me. And it just kind of overwhelmed me in this moment.
You know, A., it's the first time this guy's heard a voice because he's been doing everything by typing for almost two years. And, B., that his friends had made the sacrifice and taken this enormous risk to come back to get him. It just really was overwhelming. And it was just one of those things that happened and I wasn't expecting it to happen, and that was a moment that he just created out of thin air.
On two recent controversial remarks of his: one, in which he appeared to lecture a black producer about diversity in his filmmaking competition show, Project Greenlight; and another, in which he appeared to suggest that homosexual actors should not be public about their sexuality
Well, it's hard in this day and age. I mean, they're separate things. On the Greenlight thing, that was in the first episode. We had to cut some things for length, and I hadn't seen it before the final thing aired. And I looked at the quote, and I went, 'It did look like I said that we needn't have more diversity behind the camera.' So I understand why people were pissed off about that; I would've been too.
The bummer for me was that that's not what I believe at all. That was a comment in reference to the fact that our competition that we had had, that we opened to the public, had only 2 percent people of color respond to the competition. So we were sitting there with a very nondiverse group of finalists that we had to choose from. So it was really frustrating, and we blew it on the competition this year. I mean, we have to do better and recruit in other places like YouTube. ... One of the main problems is people don't feel like traditional avenues are open to them. And we didn't take that into account.
The other comment ... it's tricky because, like ... there was a headline that said I said gay actors should go back into the closet, or something like that. I would never say that, and I never did say that. But, because somebody puts that in a headline as clickbait, it gets picked up and run with by other people.
It's like, a lot of people who aren't real journalists, they're bloggers — they're either misinformed or lazy or incompetent, or just fishing for clicks. And so they put this stuff up there that they either know is not true, or they haven't bothered to do a 30-second Google search to confirm the veracity of it.
On playing characters stranded on another planet
It's my own little niche market. I'm writing another one now. It's all about Saturn [laughs].
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A stranded man is a classic story - think of "Robinson Crusoe," "Lord Of The Flies," Tom Hanks talking to Wilson the volleyball in "Castaway" - "Gilligan's Island," for that matter. And now Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, an astronaut stranded on Mars with only his computer diary to talk to.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MARTIAN")
MATT DAMON: (As Mark Watney) Right, let's do the math. Our service mission it was supposed to last 31 souls. For redundancy, they sent 68 soul's worth of food - that's for six people. So for just me, that's going to last 300 souls, which I figure I can stretch to 400 if I ration.
SIMON: A soul, by the way, is a Martian day, but a Martian knows that. "The Martian" is directed by Sir Ridley Scott. It's taken from the novel by Andy Weir that has an A-list of Hollywood and London stars, including Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and Chiwetal Ejiofor. But most of all, the movie is just Matt Damon talking to himself and growing potatoes in human fertilizer, and critics have called it thrilling and gripping. Matt Damon joins us from Los Angeles. Thanks so much for being with us.
DAMON: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: Huge news story this week - NASA says there's water on Mars, but too late to help you.
DAMON: (Laughter) Yeah, I know. I wish I knew that when I was stranded there. It would've made life a lot easier.
SIMON: When you first read the book or the script, did you think this is an awful lot of alone time for me on-screen?
DAMON: Yeah, definitely. That was the big kind of sticking point with, you know, trying to decide whether or not to do it. And then - you know, 'cause it felt like a bit of a risk. But that was also something that was exciting about it. And then when Ridley came on the project, you know, that made my decision really easy. I think all that risk is kind of, you know, mitigated by having a master director at the helm.
SIMON: I know you're a professional actor and you, you know, shoot lines from a story that they're out of sequence. But I wonder if there were times where you - you did feel an extraordinary solitude in portraying this character?
DAMON: You know, there was one scene that - you know, it's actually the scene where he finally cracks. And I just - and that just kind of happened. And it was because Ridley, being clever - there's a scene where I'm taking off in this Mars ascent vehicle in the hopes of rendezvousing with my crew. And they weren't there. They'd shot and left a couple weeks earlier. But Ridley had the audio of their scene. And I had an earpiece in my ear and quite unexpectedly I started to hear the voices of my crewmates who had come back to get me. And it was - it just kind of overwhelmed me in this moment that, you know - A, it's the first time this guy's heard a voice 'cause he's been doing everything by typing for almost two years, and B, that his friends had made the sacrifice to, you know - and taken this enormous risk to come back to get him. And it just really was overwhelming and it was just one of those things that happened and I wasn't expecting it to happen. And that was a moment that just kind of - he created out of thin air.
SIMON: Yeah. You've had a couple of cases in recent weeks in which you've had to clarify something you said.
DAMON: Yeah, yeah.
SIMON: I wondered - what you said about Project Greenlight and diversity behind the camera and then what people thought you said about gay colleagues, gay actors. Is it hard to have every word weighed?
DAMON: Well, it's hard in this day and age. I mean, they're separate things. I mean, on the Greenlight thing, that was in the first episode and we had to cut some things for length. And I hadn't seen it before the final thing aired. And I looked at the quote and I went - it did look like I said that we needn't have more diversity behind the camera. So I understand why people were pissed off about that. I would've been, too. The bummer for me was that that's not what I believe at all. That was a comment in reference to the fact that our competition that we had had, that we opened to the public, had only 2 percent people of color respond to the competition. So we were sitting there with a very non-diverse group of finalists that we had to choose from. So it was really frustrating and we blew it on the competition this year. I mean, we have to do better and recruit in other places like YouTube and places where - because I think one of the main problems is people don't feel like traditional avenues are open to them. And we didn't take that into account.
The other comment about - it's tricky because, like, this thing that - there was a headline that said I said gay actors should go back into the closet or something like that. I would never say that and I never did say that. But because somebody puts that in a headline in order, you know, as click bait, it gets picked up and run with by other people. It's like a lot of people who aren't real journalists, they're bloggers, and they're either misinformed or lazy or incompetent or just fishing for clicks. And so they put this stuff up there that they either know is not true or they haven't bothered to, like, do a 30 second Google search to confirm the veracity of it.
SIMON: To make it plain - you don't believe that actors who happen to be gay need to stay in the closet.
DAMON: Of course not. Of course not.
SIMON: I think the last two movies in which I've seen you you've been stranded on a planet.
DAMON: (Laughter) I know.
SIMON: Are you getting into a rut?
DAMON: (Laughter).
SIMON: You know, the way certain actors played cowboys or detectives?
DAMON: Yeah, it's my own little - it's my own little niche market.
SIMON: (Laughter).
DAMON: I'm writing another one now. It's all about Saturn.
SIMON: Matt Damon is and is in "The Martian," opening now. Thanks so much for being with us.
DAMON: Thanks a lot, Scott. I appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad