Matt Damon can thank his lucky stars that Christopher Nolan cast him in “Oppenheimer.”
The ‘Interstellar’ actor was considering a break before writer-director Nolan sought a role in ‘Oppenheimer,’ which premieres in theaters July 21.
“This will sound made up, but it’s actually true,” Damon said Entertainment Weekly. “I had to — not to get too personal — negotiate extensively with my wife that I was taking time off.”
The ‘Air’ star continued, ‘I had been on ‘Interstellar,’ and then Chris put me on ice for a couple of movies, so I wasn’t in the rotation, but I actually negotiated in couples therapy.— This is a true story — the only caveat to my break was if Chris Nolan called. This without knowing whether or not he was working on something, because he never tells you. He just calls you out of the blue. And so, that was a moment in my family.
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Damon recently founded the production company Artists Equity with longtime collaborator Ben Affleck, and previously starred in Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.”
“Oppenheimer” director Nolan told EW that he likes to call actors directly to cast them as a surprise. “(It’s) a fun way to do it,” Nolan told “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy in the EW video. “But it means it’s very difficult to call you to go out to dinner or something. Why is every time you answer the phone like, ‘What’s going to happen’?”
Early reactions to the film praise the ensemble cast for the “haunted” tone of the epic about the creation of the atomic bomb. “Oppenheimer” actress Emily Blunt, whose performance has already been heralded as a breakout breakout, has revealed that she, too, has been considering a break from acting.
“It’s one of those things where people say, ‘How does that balance?’ I never feel like I’m doing it right, you know'” Blunt said on the “Table for twopodcast. “But I’m not working this year. I worked quite a lot last year and my oldest is nine, so we’re in the single-digit last year. And I just feel like there are milestones in their day that they are so important when they are little.
He added, “And it’s, ‘Will you wake me up? Are you taking me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need to be there for all of them for a good stretch. And I felt it in my bones.
Blunt admitted she feels “guilty” working on “intense” films like “Oppenheimer.”
“I think the time consuming ones, for me, are becoming few and far between,” said Blunt, who lives next door to co-star Damon, “between just because of the emotional toll on me, the kids, you count facts”.
