Los Angeles - Matt Damon starred in Elysium because he was desperate to team up with Neill Blomkamp. The Behind the Candelabra actor is a huge fan of the director's 2009 sci-fi movie District 9 and jumped at the chance to star in his forthcoming sci-fi blockbuster when offered the lead role of Max.
"The big appeal was Neill. I saw District 9 and flipped out like everybody else. I had my eye on him as somebody that I wanted to work with and then the next thing he was doing suddenly came my way, so it was a really easy decision for me," said Damon.
Damon is best known for starring in action movies such as the Bourne franchise and dramas like Good Will Hunting, but while he's always wanted to act in a sci-fi movie has surprisingly never been offered one before Elysium.
'Sc-fi funnest movies'
He told SFX magazine, "I love [sci-fi] but there aren't many sci-fi movies that have come out while I've been around that have been great. There was The Matrix, obviously, but I never got a shot at that. They're the funnest movies as a moviegoer to see, so I'd been looking for one but just nothing had come around."
Elysium is set in a futuristic world where the rich live in a space paradise while the rest are stuck on earth in deplorable conditions and policed by robots. One man decides to break the divide after he finds out he only has a few days to live. The movie will be hitting our screen on 30 August.
"The big appeal was Neill. I saw District 9 and flipped out like everybody else. I had my eye on him as somebody that I wanted to work with and then the next thing he was doing suddenly came my way, so it was a really easy decision for me," said Damon.
Damon is best known for starring in action movies such as the Bourne franchise and dramas like Good Will Hunting, but while he's always wanted to act in a sci-fi movie has surprisingly never been offered one before Elysium.
'Sc-fi funnest movies'
He told SFX magazine, "I love [sci-fi] but there aren't many sci-fi movies that have come out while I've been around that have been great. There was The Matrix, obviously, but I never got a shot at that. They're the funnest movies as a moviegoer to see, so I'd been looking for one but just nothing had come around."
Elysium is set in a futuristic world where the rich live in a space paradise while the rest are stuck on earth in deplorable conditions and policed by robots. One man decides to break the divide after he finds out he only has a few days to live. The movie will be hitting our screen on 30 August.