Matt Damon turned to Ben Affleck‘s family to prepare for “Oppenheimer.”
During the latest episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?,” Damon revealed that he talked to Affleck’s Marine veteran grandfather about the reaction to Hiroshima and the dropping of the atomic bomb. Damon portrays Manhattan Project military leader General Lesley Groves in the Christopher Nolan film.
“I remember talking to Ben Affleck’s grandfather who was a Marine. And he said, ‘When we heard about the bomb dropped, we cheered,’” Damon said, “and 50 years later, he’s telling you this and he goes, ‘I live with the fact that I cheered, because but this is what they were telling us, you know, that they were going to fight to the last man.’”
To note, Affleck also starred in a WWII film, 2001’s “Pearl Harbor,” with “Oppenheimer” actor Josh Hartnett.
Damon continued that it’s “such an impossible question” to say whether the U.S. was right or wrong to drop the bomb.
“I probably would have had a head of gray hair. It’s like, those presidents, their hair goes white,” Damon said when asked what he would do at the time. “It’s funny because when you look at it, you think there’s really only one choice to make, and yet you’ve looked at the people who made that choice. I mean, I don’t think Groves for instance, ever lost a night of sleep about it. He fulfilled his mission. But Oppenheimer and a lot of the other scientists…once they went through the test, they started going, ‘Oh my god,’ and it was like it was like a shockwave going through them.”
The “Good Will Hunting” Oscar winner added that “Oppenheimer” director Nolan is “one of the best directors to ever live” and the film “plays like a thriller, like you’re on the edge of your seat the entire time.”
Damon also addressed why he is working with Affleck more now, from starring in “Air” to founding production banner Artists Equity together. Turns out, another family tie between the Afflecks and the Damons was the driving force.
“We’ve been bizarrely close for a long time,” Damon said. “After my dad passed in 2017 and Ben was very, very close with him, i’s like it changed something in us. You start to really see the end game and you start to feel like, ‘I want to make every second count. I don’t want to fritter away time anymore.’”
