Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are set to work together once again in the summer blockbuster Oppenheimer. The film is highly anticipated, partly due the impeccable cast writer/director Christopher Nolan assembled. Having co-starred in the 2011 thriller The Adjustment Bureau, Blunt and Damon are friends and even live in proximity to each other in New York. Now, Damon is sharing a funny story about being Blunt’s neighbor as well as how they both got cast by the legendary filmmaker for their latest film.
The two delightful co-stars opened up to Access Hollywood about their work on the World War II epic and off-screen friendship. Emily Blunt and her husband, John Krasinski, live on the tenth floor of a Brooklyn duplex, while Damon and his wife have an abode spanning the 11th and 12th floors. That off-camera connection contributed to a hilarious story about how Christopher Nolan awkwardly approached both actors about starring in Oppenheimer. The Martian star recalled:
There was actually a funny story. Because when Chris [Nolan] came to talk to me about the movie, he bumped into John [Krasinski] in the lobby. He already knew that he was gonna go to Emily. But he didn’t want to do it on the same day, because he didn’t want it to seem like he was going to just one apartment building to cast his movie.
Emily Blunt added to the story, saying that the director not talking to both performers at the same time was partly to show respect for her. She said:
He didn’t want it to be offensive to me if it seemed like convenient casting, you know. He was like, ‘Well I’m here.’
That’s absolutely hilarious. The Dark Knight helmer must’ve had to do a weird shuffle in which he left the apartment building, just to come back to the exact same place another day to talk to the actress. People must’ve started to assume Christopher Nolan just lived or just liked hanging out there, given his multiple visits. The actors reside in a luxury building called The Standish, located in the historic affluent Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. Both stars are among several who've moved out of Hollywood and shifted to other locales. Emily Blunt explained that she and her hubby made the move because they felt more at home in the Big Apple.
Funny enough, Matt Damon also has something in common with his co-star's husband. Both he and John Krasinski hail from Boston neighborhoods and established a working partnership. After meeting through Emily Blunt, they co-starred and co-wrote 2012’s Promised Land. Damon is also set to make a vocal cameo in the Quiet Place director’s next film, If.
As for Oppenheimer, the Good Will Hunting actor plays Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr., who directed the Manhattan Project. This was a classified research project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb during WWII. The Oscar winner's character recruits physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, to work on the project, and the physicist essentially becomes the godfather of the explosive device. The Sicario actress plays Oppenheimer’s wife, who moves with her husband to the desert while he works on the project. It's unclear as to whether Emily Blunt and Matt Damon actually share any scenes but, if they don't, I'll certainly settle for their neighborly banter and fun stories.
Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21st, and early reactions to the Christopher Nolan drama have been positive. For more information on other films heading to theaters this year, take a look at the schedule of 2023 new movie releases.
