Two Matt Damon fashion posts in one week? Never would have imagined it. But we’ll come back to the fashion thing in a minute, let’s talk about the interview – Matt is one of GQ’s men of the year and his cover story was released today that includes what is, I think, a new revelation about his wife, Luciana, who had brain surgery right before the Oscars a couple of years ago when Matt was part of the Oppenheim team. They still ended up going to the Oscars though after she recovered because she knew he had missed The Departed Oscar celebration all those years back.

This was in response to a question about Martin Scorcese finally winning an Oscar for that film and whether or not Matt felt a type of way about not being nominated. Which, of course, ties in to this year, and his performance in The Odyssey, as he is widely expected to be in contention for a Best Actor nomination. So this interview, really, functions as an overview of his career, a reminder for anyone who needs it that he’s been working a long time, and it’s been a body of work that is so high quality that he’s already been part of two Best Pictures, and possibly a third if The Odyssey really does go all the way. This is on top of the Bourne movies, and The Martian, and the Oceans movies, and True Grit, and Good Will Hunting, and etc etc etc…

It’s John Malkovich, Matt Damon, and Andrew Scott right now in a three-way race for this award. And the people running Matt’s campaign strategy might be countering Malkovich’s “he’s due” argument with a “Matt’s due too”. That, to me, is how this piece reads: a Hollywood veteran, a one time Hollywood upstart who’s become an actor who has worked with the auteur directors on prestige projects but also now understands the business at every level and who, in his 50s, fronted one of the most ambitious films of the year on the grandest scale. It’s a smart move because even I sometimes forget the range of Matt’s performances. Where it’s a little bit disingenuous though is that he tries to downplay the campaigning altogether.

“I don’t know what [the campaign trail] means. I live in Brooklyn. [Laughs] If the trail is in that area, yeah. I don’t know what that entails. I will say, the technical side of this movie—I think of someone like Willie Burton, our sound guy, who’s in his 80s and he is a legend in the business.”

He goes on to extend that pivot, talking about the other industry experts who worked on the film … and this isn’t a bad look in and of itself, it’s just that… well… you’re on the cover of GQ posing for your life because you’re in one of the biggest movies of the year, a Christopher Nolan movie at that, so can we drop the pretence that the Oscars aren’t a conversation that you’re having with your team?

Now we can talk about how he’s posing for his life…

This is the best Matt Damon has looked in a magazine in a while, and this is also Matt Damon doing the most! Not a complaint! The squint and the step here? Straight out of the Brad Pitt pose book.

The shot of Matt in the robe looking into the distance is also Brad Pitt coded. Flip through the entire carousel below and you’ll see a Matt that you may have never seen before: Fashion Matt… but sure, no, he doesn’t know what a campaign is, get the f-ck outta here. 

Photo credits: Richard Burbridge/GQ

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