Matt Damon’s latest feature film is now in theaters. In Stillwater, Damon plays an Oklahoma roughneck that finds himself in France to visit his daughter, who is suspected of murder. The film is directed by Tom McCarthy and also stars Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin, Deanna Dunagan, and Lilou Siauvaud.
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“Stillwater follows an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma who travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit,” reads the official synopsis. “Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter.”
ComingSoon’s Alyse Wax spoke with Matt Damon about his role in the film, his portrayal of a roughneck, and getting to work with Tom McCarthy. Check out the video interview or the full transcript below.
Alyse Wax: What drew you to the role of Bill Baker?
Matt Damon: Well, there were a number of things, probably chief among them was the fact that Tom McCarthy was directing the movie. I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time and I love his writing. I love his directing and the script was just beautiful. I’d never played a role like this. I didn’t even realize, I read the script and I just thought I really loved the dynamics between all the characters, and then it wasn’t until I started researching when I went down and started meeting these roughnecks in Oklahoma that I realized how specific this subculture is of roughnecks and that really in terms of like the physicalization of the guy that the access that the roughnecks gave us was really everything for Tom. And for me, from the body type to exactly what they’re wearing to how they sound to, how they talk, everything about it came from our time with them.
So did working with Tom live up to your expectations?
Nah, not really [laughs]. It was pretty incredible. I had an amazing time working with them and I’m really happy with what we did. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of the work and sometimes you have a great experience, but the work doesn’t turn out exactly as you hoped. This was one of those rare times I got both, I had a really wonderful working experience and I learned a lot. I love where we ended up,
The role of Bill seems to buck a lot of conventional stereotypes. How did you prepare for that?
I think it was the access that we got from these roughnecks, and I think they were looking at us when we came down there with a kind of justified weariness. They were like what are your intentions here? That’s totally fair and I think once they realized what it was we were trying to do and the level of compassion and empathy that the script has for this character and that we have for this guy. That was when they really kind of gave us full access to and the help that we needed because they knew we really wanted to get it right.
It’s interesting because you have, your character is a roughneck and all of that, but you don’t actually see your character doing any of the drilling or anything. Was that weird or awkward or especially for the roughnecks that you were interviewing with or meeting.
Yeah, it’s a tricky thing because you have to establish a character that’s very much grounded in this very real thing, but the real thing isn’t part of the movie. But it still means all of that research and all of that work has to happen. So the audience believes that you’re a roughneck when you’re walking around Marseille. So yeah, it takes a little bit of legwork and research.
Any chance that you’ll have a cameo in Kevin Smith’s upcoming Clerks 3?
I have not yet heard if I’ve been invited to do that, but, I love Kevin, so there’s not much I wouldn’t do for that guy.
