The Moment Matt Damon Broke Down When Filming 'The Martian'

Matt Damon credits director Ridley Scott as the reason he did the film.

ByABC News
February 26, 2016, 12:27 PM

— -- Matt Damon couldn't hold back the waterworks while filming one scene for "The Martian."

"The other actors had already wrapped. They'd gone home, so it was just Ridley and I in Budapest shooting that scene, and as we started to do the scene, Ridley did something kind of tricky: He put the sound of the other actors inside my helmet. It just struck me that it was the first time I'd heard anybody's voice in almost two years," Damon recalled in an interview for the ABC News special, "Journey to the Oscars" hosted by ABC News' Robin Roberts.

"The Martian" director Ridley Scott said at that moment in filming, Damon became emotional.

"And he said, 'I just lost it. Was that too much?' And I said 'No. It was perfect dude.' But that's him. That's him," Scott said in an interview for "Journey to the Oscars."

"I just went. But it happened because of Ridley. And it surprised me. I don't think it surprised Ridley. That's a great piece of directing," Damon said.

Damon, who is nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film, said Scott made his portrayal of astronaut Mark Watney easier.

"[With actors], one excuse for not being good in a movie is that we don't know what movie we're in. What Ridley does is he absolutely arms you with all of this information. So you not only know what movie you're in, you know what lens size, you know what shot he's cutting from and what shot he's cutting to. All of that makes your job much, much easier," said Damon. "He's not going to slow down anytime soon. He's going to make a lot more movies. I'm just hoping I'm in them."

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