In an interview this weekend, Hollywood
actor Matt Damon pivoted from discussing rumors that he and Ben
Affleck were gay to whether actors should discuss their sexuality.
Damon, who is currently promoting his
latest film, The Martian, which opens Friday, made his remarks
in a Guardian profile published Sunday.
Damon and Affleck wrote and starred in
the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which won the Academy Award
that year for Best Original Screenplay, among many other accolades.
“When Ben and I first came on the
scene, there were rumors that we were gay because it was two guys who
wrote a script together,” Damon
said. “I know. 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.”
“At the time [of the Affleck rumors],
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,” he continued. “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.”
Writing at The Daily Beast,
Kevin Fallon called Damon a “hypocrite” for casually discussing
his life with wife Luciana Barroso and their four children in the
same interview.
“And I would like for someone to
convincingly make the case that a straight actor who follows his
advice – not talking about being straight – will see his or her
career affected in any way by such secrecy about their
heterosexuality. Or that their career would be harmed in any way by
talking about their opposite-sex relationship or love life,” he
wrote.