As far as A-list actors go, Matt Damon is kind of a weird one. He rose to fame alongside his childhood friend Ben Affleck, both of them hitting it big in Hollywood by starring in their screenwriting debut, Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, and while Damon has been in the big leagues for quite some time now, that doesn’t stop him from making obscure and funky cameos – sometimes even going uncredited. One of the most recognizable of these smaller roles is his Marvel role as an actor version of Loki in Thor: Ragnarok, and apparently he had to get special permission to reprise this odd role in Thor: Love and Thunder, and it sounds like it was pretty serious business.
Filming for Thor: Love and Thunder took place in star Chris Hemsworth’s home country of Australia. Seeing as the pandemic is still affecting travels and Australia is one of the least affected countries by the COVID virus, travel to the country isn’t all that easy, especially back when Thor: Love and Thunder was filming at the beginning of this year. In an interview with GQ, Matt Damon explains that he was approached by government officials of Australia, and he was told the only reason he was being let into the country was because the film was creating jobs for Australians. Damon also admits that the film would have certainly survived without him, but that Australia seemed to recognize the value of the laughs he would bring to the film. Discussing how he received permission to appear in Thor: Love and Thunder, the actor told the magazine,
There were government officials who called me and explained to me in no uncertain terms: The only reason you’re getting in is because this production is creating jobs. Now, could the production live without me? Yeah. But you start pulling jokes away from something that’s funny and eventually it’s not, you know what I mean?
While this is certainly not something every A-lister admits about their contribution to a film, the fact that Damon’s role is still just a cameo makes the harsh assessment of him not being an important player make a lot of sense. He only showed up in a few minutes of Thor: Ragnarok, but it’s unclear whether he will appear in a bit of a bigger way in Love and Thunder. The upcoming Thor movie has added Melissa McCarthy in another actor role similar to Damon’s part; Luke Hemsworth and Sam Neill are also reprising their Thor: Ragnarok actor roles.
Luckily Matt Damon (and the other American actors in the film) got the permission he needed to fly to Australia to film and we will be graced by yet another wonky cameo. Thor: Love and Thunder is set to release to theaters next year on May 6, 2022, and I personally can’t wait to see Damon in the MCU again.
