Matt Damon has starred in more than his fair share of movies over the years, ranging from the Oscar-winning “Good Will Hunting” to the “Jason Bourne” action movies to Martin Scorsese crime thriller “The Departed” to lighter fare like “We Bought a Zoo.”
Like most actors, Damon also has those roles that got away, and he discussed one of these — and a very prominent one at that — during a recent interview.
He Auditioned to Play Robin
While appearing on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Damon revealed that he auditioned for Tim Burton’s now-iconic “Batman,” released in 1989.
According to Damon, he was up for the role of Robin, Batman’s faithful sidekick. “I remember that we didn’t have sides,” said Damon, referring script excerpts given to actors to perform when auditioning.
He wasn’t given script pages, he recalled, because the whole production was shrouded in secrecy.
“It wasn’t like you’re reading a scene with Batman,” he recalled. “It was so secretive that it was, like, you’re reading this other scene from some other movie.”
Another Shot at Robin
Damon was not cast as Robin, and the character didn’t appear in the film — or the sequel, 1992’s “Batman Returns.”
Interestingly, that wasn’t the only time that Damon nearly stepped into the tights of the Boy Wonder.
“Then, subsequent to that, in ’93, I got screentested; I was one of the final three to play Robin in the George Clooney [and] Joel Schumacher Batman,” continued Damon, referencing 1997’s “Batman and Robin,” in which Batman and Robin (played by Chris O’Donnell) joined forces with Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) to take on Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman).
“I remember Chris O’Donnell already had the part, but they were haggling over money,” Damon recalled.
“So the studio was flexing, basically, by flying in two other people to screen test, but they wanted Chris — but they just wanted him for a price,” Damon said.
At that early stage in his career, Damon was perfectly cool with being used as a Hollywood bargaining chip. “I remember calling up and I was, like, ‘I’ll work for a quarter of what that dude’s working for,’” he said with a laugh.
“I was like, ‘I want the job!’ Yeah, I flew in and auditioned for Joel, but I think they always intended [the role to O’Donnell],” Damon added. “I remember seeing Chris while he was making that — we were friends back then –— and they always intended to give it to Chris.”
Damon ultimately dodged a bullett by avoiding being cast in the critically reviled film, widely regarded as the worst of all the Batman movies.
Six Degrees of Batman
While Damon never did appear in a Batman movie, his lifelong pal and frequent co-star Ben Affleck sure has.
Affleck famously played the Caped Crusader in four different movies (five when considering a director’s-cut release of one of them): 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” 2017’s “Justice League” (and the 2021 director’s cut) and 2023’s “The Flash.”
Damon can boast another Batman-adjacent connection in that he just worked with Christopher Nolan, starring in “The Odyssey.”
Nolan previously directed the “Dark Knight” trilogy — “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Dark Knight “(2008) and “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012).
