Matt Damon gets candid about fatherhood and Hollywood's 'ruthless' side

After spending decades as one of Hollywoods most recognisable stars Matt Damon has spoken candidly about the personal cost of a demanding film career revealing how the industrys ruthless nature often took him away from fatherhood more than he wantedAs per Page Six in a recent interview Damon reflected on balancing his professional life with raising his four daughters while navigating the uncertainty of the entertainment businessThe actor who stars as Odysseus in Christopher Nolans upcoming film The Odyssey said he has become increasingly focused on being present as his children grow olderTheres less of that kind of young persons engine of needing to prove something and more about like accepting work and doing it on your terms and doing it as precisely and as well as you can I think about it a lot especially as my kids are getting older really trying to be here now Damon said adding And its hard for me to do that as quoted by Page SixThe actor who shares daughters Isabella Gia and Stella with wife Luciana and is also a father figure to Alexia from Lucianas previous marriage acknowledged that both his personality and the demands of the film industry have made staying in the moment challengingI think maybe that has to do with my own nature he said adding It also has to do with this career where youre always trying to figure out whats ahead because its such an uncertain business and a pretty ruthless one Those kinds of things have conspired to I think maybe take me out of where I am more than Id likeDamons comments come after a career spanning nearly four decades He began acting at 18 with a oneline role in the 1980s film Mystic Pizza before achieving his breakthrough as Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting alongside Ben Affleck in 1997Looking back on the years following the success of Good Will Hunting Damon described a relentless work schedule driven by both passion and insecurityI dont think either of us stopped for years he told in the interview about himself and Affleck adding I mean I think I worked five straight years literally out of these two duffel bags that I had And I traveled everywhere and just literally would go from set to set And I loved it It was great I loved what I was doing I didnt want to stop Theres that insecurity of actors of like the phones going to stop ringing as quoted by Page SixHe also spoke about the pressure actors face in maintaining their place within the industryTheres that list that you hear about and you never know Damon said adding I mean you know if youre on it if your phones ringing a lot but you dont Theres no official list but there is sometimes you can get a movie greenlit at a studio but not at another studio and youre really aware of that Ive always been really aware of that as quoted by Page SixDespite the challenges Damon has previously credited fatherhood with helping him as an actor Speaking to Fatherly in 2021 he said parenting made it easier to access the emotions required for performancesI feel like fatherhood has made my job a lot easier in a lot of ways Damon said adding All those emotions that I used to have to reach for are just readily accessible I dont have to twist myself into knots to find something its just sitting right there all the timeOver the past decade the Oscar winner said he has intentionally slowed down professionally prioritising time at home and focusing on Artists Equity the production company he cofounded with AffleckMy youngest is a freshman and Ive been through this a few times and I know how quickly these years go he told as per Page SixStill Damon said the chance to star in The Odyssey was an opportunity he could not pass upReflecting on the experience he described the project as a reminder of an earlier era of filmmakingIts a little bewildering he said adding Because of where the movie business is going it was a really weird movie for me personally in the sense that I had almost a nostalgic feeling the entire time I was making it because it felt like movies were when I started working And I know that thats going away I knew that this was the last chance I was ever going to have to do something like this as quoted by Page SixBeyond his reflections on work and family Damon also shared simple parenting advice during an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelces New Heights podcastYour kids show up like that spirit that soul is there and its going to do what its going to do he said adding The nurture part is very important youre going to be helping with that but they really are who they are right awayHis advice to parents was brief but heartfelt Dont blinkThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever