Matt Damon is aware of the memes — and he loves them. The Oscar-winning actor, who has built a career on playing characters in need of rescue, sat down with Polygon to discuss his role in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and his recurring cinematic theme of getting stranded.
"I've seen those memes," Damon says with a laugh. "They're funny. Friends send them to me. My kids sent one to me. How much money's been spent trying to bring me back from places?"
From The Martian to Interstellar, Saving Private Ryan, and now The Odyssey, Damon's characters often find themselves isolated, requiring elaborate rescue missions. Hollywood has spent roughly $600 million on these stranded-Damon movies — which have earned nearly $2 billion at the box office combined.
"Because in Interstellar, I'm on, like, another planet. That is a lot of jet fuel," Damon notes.
"Yeah, we arrived for you," Anne Hathaway, his co-star in both The Odyssey and Interstellar, chimes in.
Damon is happy to continue the trend. "I'm gonna ride this pony until it runs out," he says. "I'm up for it wherever it is. It's worked out really well."
The theme extends to his characters' intelligence: from Will Hunting to Odysseus, Damon consistently portrays brilliantly clever men. "Odysseus is known for his intelligence and cunning," Damon says, "and that's kind of his cross to bear."
Hathaway jokes about her co-star: "He's played really smart, stranded men."
The Odyssey opens in theaters July 17.