Matt Damon Talks 'Pretty Horses'
Jan. 2 -- Critics, step aside. Matt Damon has already ridden off into the sunset, proud of his work in All the Pretty Horses.
His stint as a cattle rancher is not receiving the rave reviews he or Miramax might have hoped for during this hyped up Oscar nominating season. But that’s not putting a damper on Damon’s horse riding experience.
“This is the thing I’m most proud of, the best thing I’ve ever done. And maybe no one will agree with me, [but] it’s the first time in my life that I don’t care, and I really want to feel that way again,” Damon says.
This is the latest in a string of lead roles for the Oscar winner, who last appeared in The Legend of Bagger Vance, and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Much of his comfort on the set of Horses, which he filmed directly after Ripley, was created by the spontaneous directing style of fellow actor and Oscar-winning writer Billy Bob Thornton.
He brings Cormac McCarthy’s best-selling novel to the screen eight years after the screenplay was first fleshed out. Considering the popularity of the original text, this was a daunting task, but not for Thornton who had one basic goal for the set: have fun.
“So if I go up and pinch someone on the ass right [before filming] it takes you enough off guard to where you never settle into a heaviness, and in terms of the set, we just have a fun time,” said Thornton who showed off his free-wheeling attitude by showing up for interviews wearing a Metallica t-shirt and a rosary around his neck.
Horsing Around on the Set
The story finds Damon as Texas cowboy John Grady Cole who gets tossed around a bit. His dream career is cut short when his mom sells the family cattle ranch in Texas. In need of a job, he enlists his best friend, played by Henry Thomas, to head to Mexico in search of the ideal ranch to call home.
The adventure leads to much more than cattle wrangling — there are skirmishes with the locals, a bit of jail time, and, for Damon, an affair with the boss’s daughter, played by Spanish actress Penelope Cruz who is now working with Tom Cruise in Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky.
