14 DAY TRIAL // Some celebrities thrive on media attention, so they tend to overshare private details to get more of it. Others avoid it at all costs, believing that the less the world knows about them as individuals, the better they are as artists.
Matt Damon falls in the latter category, he tells The Guardian in a new interview promoting “The Martian.” In fact, he believes actors and actresses shouldn’t even come out as gay or bi to the press, because staying in the closet would be better for their career.
Rupert Everett lost it all by coming out
Starting October 2, Matt Damon will be back on the big screen in the latest Ridley Scott-directed film, “The Martian,” which sees him play an astronaut left stranded on Mars after a failed mission, with limited resources to survive until the team came back for him.
Speaking to the British publication, Damon makes sure to stress that there’s little of interest for the public in his personal life, as he’s a happily married man and a father. There is nothing scandalous going on, but that doesn’t mean that the media didn’t once try to find it.
Damon recalls the time when he and good friend Ben Affleck were the hottest arrivals in town and how much speculation their friendship generated in the tabs. Because they were 2 men who had worked together and who were obviously in good relations, the assumption was that they were gay.
They had to address the rumor at some point, but Damon says that even if they were gay, he wouldn’t have come clean about it. If you look at Rupert Everett’s career, you will see why coming out is never a good idea.
“I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guy - more handsome than anybody, a classically trained actor - it’s tough to make the argument that he didn’t take a hit for being out,” he says. “I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly. But in terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that.”
In reality though, Everett’s career started going downhill not when he came out as gay, but when he started bad-mouthing everyone in the industry he’d worked with, and people began avoiding him.
Keeping the mystery
Damon is right on one thing: it’s best to keep certain things under wraps to maintain the illusion. He’s not the only actor to believe that a little secrecy goes a very long way in terms of creating characters that are convincing.
Leonardo DiCaprio is famously media shy and would never discuss his personal life in a TV interview. Christian Bale is just as reticent to talk about himself in his off time. Tom Hardy refuses to discuss anything about himself than his dogs.
The idea is that, in order to be able to bring to life diverse, strong characters, you can’t have the people at home know every little detail about your life. Then, you won’t be able to lose yourself in the character you’re playing, it’s that simple.