Matt Damon Reveals How Ridley Scott Candidly Convinced Him To Star In The Martian

Published Jul 18, 2026, 9:29 AM EDT Hannah Gearan (she/her) is has been writing for ScreenRant for over three years. Her deep cinema love traces back to age 11, when she equipped herself with a spiral-bound notebook, rated all the films she watched, and declared herself a critic. About a decade later, she received a BA from Wesleyan University, where she studied Film, Environmental Studies, and Writing. Hannah’s short film, Toxic Faucets, has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston). As a Movie News writer now, she draws upon her vast experience studying, making, and analyzing film as she approaches dynamic breaking stories. Matt Damon's iconic role in The Martian took some convincing. The Martian is based on the debut Andy Weir novel of the same name. Like the book, the movie follows the story of an astronaut named Mark Watney, who has to use innovative scientific methods to stay alive when the rest of his Mars-exploring crew dies. Though the majority of the screen time goes to an insular performance from Damon, The Martian also stars Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar UK, Damon explains how he had to be convinced to take part in The Martian. Damon felt that he had "just played a guy stranded on a planet' in Interstellar. Scott responded to Damon frankly, saying "no one gives a s***." Check out the full quote from Damon below: I actually once went to meet Sir Ridley Scott to turn down The Martian because I had just done that part in Interstellar. And I got so in my head. I said, Well, I just played a guy stranded on a planet. I can’t then go play a guy stranded on a planet. I mean, this is me just classically, stupidly overthinking things. So, I said that out loud to Ridley, and without missing a beat, he goes, “Oh, no one gives a s***.” And I was like, “All right, I’ll do it [laughs].” In terms of theatrical release, Damon's role in Interstellar came just one year before The Martian's 2015 release. In it, he played Dr. Mann, a person who has been sent on a dangerous mission to an ice planet. Damon's appearance was a surprise at the time the film came out, and Dr. Mann does not appear until fairly late in the story. This release timeline did mean, as Damon initially feared, that he had two back-to-back films wherein he played "a guy stranded on a planet." Damon is not exclusively a sci-fi actor by any means, so for him, it would be notable simply to have two of those genres films back to back, let alone two that cover space exploration. Nonetheless, the roles are not by any means the same scope despite their apparent similarities. By contrast to Dr. Mann, Mark is the protagonist in The Martian, and serves as the emotional throughline. As such, this role was much more demanding of Damon despite it marking another lost-in-space film from a major director. The Martian ended up being a great choice for Damon. Though notably winning none, the space movie ended up being nominated for seven Oscars following its release. This included a nod for Damon for Best Actor, marking his third Oscar nomination as an actor. The Martian was also significant in Damon's career, as it served as the springboard for a future collaboration with Scott, with whom he later worked in The Last Duel. Arguably, it also further cemented Damon's A-list status and helped establish him as a blockbuster lead. Today, that legacy shines through as he takes on the titular role in The Odyssey. The Martian 9/10 Release Date September 30, 2015 Runtime 141 minutes