Boston’s own Matt Damon returns as memory-challenged assassin Jason Bourne in the espionage thriller, “The Bourne Supremacy,” which co-stars Joan Allen, Brian Cox and Julia Stiles. Here are some highlights from a recent interview: QUESTION: Did the rigors of this physically demanding role take a toll on you?
MATT DAMON: The interesting thing about all the running in this movie is that I run a lot to stay in shape. I jog a lot, but I haven’t actually sprinted in my adulthood. I can’t even really remember the last time I’d sprinted. Sprinting is kind of a rare thing when you’re an adult, so I was shocked at how tired I got and how my legs just stiffened up. I felt kind of old out there.
Q: What appeals to you about Jason Bourne?
MD: I love that he’s a deeply flawed character with a really dark past. Rather than be a cookie-cutter, one-dimensional hero he’s an anti-hero in some ways. It gave me a lot to do, and made it fun to go to work in the mornings.
Q: Summer movies tend to be judged by how well they do financially. Do you worry at all about how this film will perform at the box office?
MD: For me, now, I really feel the lifting of any pressure. The pressure that I felt on me wasn’t to have this movie open well, it was to make a movie that I was proud of. I didn’t want to add my name to the list of people who make crappy sequels.
Q: Both “Bourne” films have featured terrific supporting casts.
MD: The great thing about these movies is that they really are ensemble movies. The whole theory behind (making them) is we go to the studios and say we need the best actors we can get. Going into the second one, we had to fill the hole that was left when Chris Cooper got killed at the end of the last one. We were looking for a legendary American actor, and that of course, is Joan Allen.
Q: “The Bourne Supremacy” was directed by Paul Greengrass, whose biggest prior undertaking was the documentary-style feature, “Bloody Sunday.” Were you concerned at all, going in, about his ability to deliver on a big-budget film such as this one?
MD: Paul’s goal, when he made “Bloody Sunday,” was to create a common narrative between the British and the Irish about a day that was one of the most combustible moments in recent history. That’s a Herculean undertaking. He shot the thing in, like, 25 days, and in the end both sides agreed that it probably went down (the way it was presented in the movie). To me, I figure if you give a guy with that level of skill a budget like ours, we’re going to be in really good shape.
Q: You’re an old hat at stardom now, but does the notion of your own celebrity ever freak you out anymore?
MD: I was in Boston recently, and that’s my home town, so it’s a little more surreal there. I was driving with one of my nephews and he said, “Uncle Matt, is that you?” I looked up and there’s this huge billboard in which I’m holding a sniper rifle, and I said “no, no, no.” That’s just someone who looks like Uncle Matt. So it’s still very surreal, yes.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 23, 2004. Read the original PDF.