Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Hong Chau are dishing on their new heist comedy “The Instigators.”
“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Matt, Casey and Hong, all of whom have some history with Boston, where the movie was shot.
While Matt and Casey have roots in Boston, Hong attended Boston University.
She shared, “I got to take my daughter and took her on a little campus tour and showed her, like, the Dunkin’ Donuts where I had my first coffee.”
Matt added, “Even though the city changes, there is just a certain feeling you get when you’re home, whether it’s kind of smells or feeling… It all feels familiar, in a way.”
Matt and Casey have been friends for decades, with Matt recalling his roommate days with Casey and Ben Affleck in L.A. He said, “It started right when he got out of high school, so he was 18 and I was 23 and Ben was 21 and he came to live with us in L.A.”
Casey chimed in, “I think we should stick to talking about the movie.”
Matt quipped, “I have a lot of things to say about him.”
Hong, who plays Matt’s therapist in “The Instigators,” joked, “I’m ready for a therapy session.”
Matt and Casey have come a long way since those early days in L.A. — they're now both successful actors with kids!
Hong gushed about Matt and Casey, “There was a lot of dad energy on set. Matt having four girls and [Casey’s] boy was also on set. It felt very nice and comfortable in that way and not macho.”
Matt laughed, insisting, “We’re macho.”
Casey co-wrote the movie, revealing how he got Matt on board and crediting Matt’s wife Luciana. He joked, “I went through Lucy, who’s way more agreeable and who’s got better taste than Matt does. I sent it to Matt and I didn’t hear anything for a couple weeks, then I hit Lucy up and she was like, ‘I read it. It’s great. I think Matt should do it.’ I said, 'How do we get it done?' She was like, ‘I’ll work on him,' and that was it."
Matt also dished on reuniting with his “The Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman on the project.
It’s been 20 years since Matt and Doug have worked together on a movie! Damon noted, “When he cast me in ‘Bourne,’ I’d never done an action movie. Nobody had ever even approached me with one or thought of me that way. I was the guy in ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’ so he really did bring me into that world and changed my career forever.”
Could we see any "Bourne" movies — maybe even in space?
Damon noted, "Doug's going to space with Tom Cruise on another movie, so he's already claimed that. I'll see if Tom would mind if we just kind of shoot... 'Look, while you guys are down, we'd love to do a 'Bourne' movie in space.'"
He added, "I'd love to, I want to do as many more movies as I can with Doug, so I've always been open to it."
Damon immediately thought of Liman for “The Instigators.” He explained, “I called Doug, who’s just such a great director and kind of can nail the tone. This was a very specific tone, and we really wanted the movie to be more fun and fast and kind of not overstay its welcome.”
Matt added, “He was the first person we went to, the first person we thought of, and so yeah, I guess in a sense we kind of brought him into the Boston thing.”
“The Instigators” is in select theaters August 2 and streaming on AppleTV+ August 9.
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