Matt Damon has had a successful acting career, starring in films such as Good Will Hunting, the Bourne franchise, Saving Private Ryan, Interstellar, and Oppenheimer (to name but a few).
Yet, there's one role he regrets turning down in the biggest film of all time – and an opportunity to earn his biggest payday.
The Academy Award winner once revealed that he declined the opportunity to work with director James Cameron on a new project – a collaboration that would have secured him the biggest pay packet for a role that any actor had ever received.
That project was a little film called Avatar – does the name ring any bells?
It wasn't just the lead role that Cameron was proposing, he was also offering Damon 10 per cent of the movie's profits if he took up the part.
However, Damon said he was forced to reject the offer owing to a scheduling clash.
"James Cameron offered me ten per cent of Avatar if I did it, but I was working on post-production for The Bourne Ultimatum," the 53-year-old recalled in a 2021 interview.
Little did Damon know at the time, Avatar would go on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in an eye-watering $2,923,706,026 at the box office worldwide.
Had he accepted the part of protagonist Jake Sully (which, in the end, went to Sam Worthington), Damon would have earned himself around $250 million.
Whether it's missing out on the big payday or getting the chance to work with Cameron, Damon has spoken about the missed opportunity in at least two interviews, implying that it has remained a sore subject for him.
Speaking to Christian Bale for GQ back in 2019, he lamented: "I've left more money on the table than any actor actually.
"Cameron said to me in the course of that conversation, 'Well, you know, I've only made six movies.'
"I didn't realise that ... I realised in having to say no that I was probably passing on the chance to ever work with him.
“So that sucked and that's still brutal."
Elsewhere, Matt Damon says it was 'hell' kissing Scarlett Johansson, and Ben Affleck went broke after renting a 'party house' with Matt Damon.
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