Saturday, January 21, 2012

Matt Damon, negotiating table badass

Damon in Invictus
From Manohla Dargis' 2006 NYT piece, The secrets behind Matt Damon's smile.
There's a juicy story about the making of "Good Will Hunting" in Peter Biskind's history of American independent film, "Down and Dirty Pictures." In their attempt to make the film and in their dealings with Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, who finally got the project off the page and into theaters, Damon comes across as tough, if not as savvy about money as Affleck. In one memorable exchange, Damon faced down Weinstein over who would direct. The writers wanted Gus Van Sant. Weinstein had offered the film to Chris Columbus, then best known for "Home Alone." Damon protested Weinstein's choice and, in between expletives, the executive shouted: "How ... dare you talk to me like that? You're a nobody!" "I'm a nobody," Damon said, "but I'm a nobody with director approval."

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