A health scare before Oscar night
Matt Damon said in a new GQ cover story that his wife, Luciana, suffered a brain aneurysm in early 2024. According to Variety, which reported on the interview, she went into surgery about a week before the 96th Academy Awards.
That ceremony was a big night for "Oppenheimer," in which Damon starred. The film won best picture, along with awards for director Christopher Nolan, actor Cillian Murphy and supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. Because of her surgery, the couple did not attend.
Damon described the episode as "a whole scary thing." He added that his wife is "totally fine, thank God."
Why they went to the after-party
Damon said Luciana had her energy back on the first night she felt well enough to get up. She surprised him with a dress, and they went out to the after-party. He said she did so because she remembered that he had skipped the equivalent celebration in the past.
He was referring to the Oscars when "The Departed" won best picture and other awards. Damon told GQ he was shooting second unit on "The Bourne Ultimatum" at the time, was living in Miami and had an infant. He said he and his wife watched the broadcast from bed, nervous for director Martin Scorsese.
Damon said he was jumping up and down when Scorsese won. He said the best picture win then hit him, and he realized he had not considered that it could happen. He told his wife they should have been there. In the following weeks, he said, cast members and the studio called to ask where he had been. "I totally blew it," he said.
Of the 2024 after-party, Damon said his wife told him, "This time we’re going out." He called her decision "heroic" and "really meaningful."
Damon on awards and lasting films
Damon was not nominated for supporting actor for either "The Departed" or "Oppenheimer," according to the Variety report. He told GQ he does not mind. "It’s not something you can control," he said, adding that the work itself has to be the reward.
He also questioned how awards are judged. He said he thinks about older films and how a list of winners and non-winners changes the way they are viewed. In his view, a better approach would be to hold the awards "20 or 25 years later," when it is clearer which movies endured. He said hype or a cultural moment can fade.
His own goal, Damon said, is to make as many films as possible that are still around decades later. He pointed to "Good Will Hunting," saying people now approach him who were not yet born when it came out. He called it "very cool" for him and Ben Affleck that a new generation is watching.
Another awards season ahead
Variety noted that Damon is likely to be part of the next awards season through Nolan's "The Odyssey," which it described as a record-breaking blockbuster. According to the outlet, Damon is widely expected to receive a best actor nomination, and some see him as the frontrunner to win.
Variety said the same expectations apply to Nolan for best director and to the film for best picture. Those projections are the outlet's characterization, and no nominations have been announced in the source material.
