The global health crisis has stalled a ton of film productions worldwide, including Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. The upcoming movie starring frequent collaborators Matt Damon and Ben Affleck moved to Ireland just as Disney decided to put a hold on the project and many others. Damon is currently self-isolating with his family over in Dublin, but his oldest daughter was once at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Damon is safe and sound with his wife and three kids overseas, but his oldest daughter was in the middle of her spring semester in New York City when stay-at-home orders went into effect. Here’s how Damon revealed the situation:
She had COVID really early on, along with her roommates. We’re going to go back to Los Angeles and she’s [Alexia] going to come out, so we’ll all be together and figure out what the heck we’re going to do. It’s such an odd limbo that we’re all in.
As the Ford v Ferrari actor explained to Dublin radio show Graham & Nathan on SPIN 1038, his 21-year-old daughter (who is his wife Luciana’s from a prior relationship) had the virus early on with her college roommates and has since recovered. At the end of May, they plan on reuniting with Alexia in Ireland and are deciding their next steps. Damon continued with these words:
Everybody's OK, but obviously for Luci's mom and my mom, you know, it's scary for that generation, so everyone's kind of — I think we've all got the message now. Everybody's doing the isolation and social distancing and hand-washing and kind of everything we can to mitigate this. But it's frightening, certainly for our parents.
Matt Damon counted himself lucky to be spending his isolation in a beautiful “fairytale” town in Dublin, Ireland, where there’s plenty of fresh air, trees and friendly coffee shop baristas. The news does give the actor an eerie connection to his 2011 film Contagion, which movie fans have been looking back on for its proximity to the current state of the world.
Contagion received a massive boost back in January when the film soared to the top of streaming charts. The movie was written by Scott Z. Burns after he collaborated with health experts about how a global virus could theoretically affect the world.
Contagion featured an impressive ensemble cast that included Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard. Many of them reunited to spread a message about coronavirus back in March. Take a look:
The medical consultant hired for Contagion also tested positive for COVID-19 and spoke out about staying safe amidst the crisis. The interest for Contagion rose 89% in the same week the United States confirmed its first case in Washington on January 21.
When asked about Contagion’s prominence in public conversation years later, Matt Damon said he’s been in contact with the screenwriter and consultants from the film. He finds that the presence of Contagion is proof that its “tragic” and “sad” fallout could have been predicted.
The Last Duel is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 25.
