Defends gay actor comments
In an interview with DeGeneres on The Ellen Show, Damon defends comments he made in The Guardian about gay actors.
I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery. Right? And somebody picked it up and said I said gay actors should get back in the closet. Which is like I mean it’s stupid, but it is painful when things get said that you don’t believe…In the blogosphere there’s no real penalty for just taking the ball and running with it,” Damon said. “You know what I mean? You’re just trying to click on your thing. So.
The Guardian interview
Damon is interviewed by The Guardian. He talks about The Martian, Robin Williams and about rumors he and Ben Affleck were gay:
It’s just like any piece of gossip… and it put us in a weird position of having to answer, you know what I mean? Which was then really deeply offensive. I don’t want to, like [imply] it’s some sort of disease—then it’s like I’m throwing my friends under the bus. But at the time, I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guy—more handsome than anybody, a classically trained actor—it’s tough to make the argument that he didn’t take a hit for being out. I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly. But in terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality because that’s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.
Tavis Smiley interview
Damon discusses his latest project, Promised Land, co-written by, co-produced by, and starring himself, in this interview for PBS. On natural gas drilling in the United States:
Well, leaving the film out of it, it’s a very divisive issue and people feel very strongly one way or another. So for us, we wanted to make this movie about where we are in America right now, so it was really the perfect issue to use as a backdrop for that, to explore those themes, because the film covers where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we’re going, and what happens when big money collides with real people.
Elle Magazine interview
Damon gives an interview to Elle about how changing his bad boy attitude helped his career.
The minute people started saying, “He’s the all-American guy,” my career got interesting. It liberated me. Instantly it was an image directors could f-ck with.
Supports Walker recall
ThinkProgress asks Damon if he supports efforts to recall Walker because of his school budget cuts:
among other things, yeah.