Matt Damon and Casey Affleck play complete strangers thrown into their first heist in the new action comedy “The Instigators.” The robbery of a corrupt politician goes very wrong, and their characters are left on the run in Boston (with Damon’s character’s therapist, played by Hong Chau, in tow).
The film is written by Affleck and Chuck MacLean and directed by Doug Liman. It is a throwback to the kind of movies that people say don’t get made anymore, like “Midnight Run,” with a stacked cast of great character actors (Alfred Molina, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ron Perlman, Toby Jones, Ving Rhames and so on). And it’s also completely modern: It’s made by a streaming company, AppleTV+ (playing in select theaters now and streaming Friday) with Damon and Ben Affleck’s artist-led production company Artists Equity.
Damon, Affleck and Chau spoke about the film, shared histories and old jokes. A fair amount of “gentle ribbing,” as Chau called it, ensued.
Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Doug Liman said going to Boston and making a film with Damon and the Affleck brothers was like being dropped into someone else’s family. Hong, did that ring true for you?
CHAU: It felt very family barbeque, and I was just hoping I could bring a yummy dish. I love being able to see the back and forth between these two and all of the gentle ribbing that went on.
Q: Casey, what was the impetus for writing a comedy?
AFFLECK: I wasn’t expecting that anyone was just going to send me their great comedy and ask me to come do it. So I thought I’d better come up with one of my own. (Chuck) had a really good idea and some great characters in it. He didn’t really want to work on it anymore, and so he said, why don’t you take it and see what you can do. I did that, but that was just sort of the beginning of it.
Q: I’ve had multiple friends say recently how they rewatch “Manchester by the Sea” because “it’s funnier than you remember.”
DAMON: Maybe not so much in that movie.
AFFLECK: I thought that I’d done some comedy in the past. But everyone has said, like “wow it’s really good to see you try comedy this time.” I guess it never landed as funny in the past.
Q: And Matt, you tossed out Liman’s name. What made you think of him?
DAMON: I love all of Doug’s movies and I love working with him too. He has a way of taking something that might be down the middle and just kind of tilting it off kilter a little bit in a really fun way
Q: You had a huge, shared moment with “The Bourne Identity,” but around that time, there were also some articles about his process and “Limania.” I wonder how that fits with the Artists Equity model? Does it feel like taking a gamble?
DAMON: No. And one thing that I really wanted to do with this movie, and that we did, was Artists Equity and Doug and me put up our own money for overages. So, if there were overages, they were going to fall on us personally. I was really happy to do that because I feel like he’s been unfairly kind of painted with this brush for 20 years. I don’t think there’s any better way to validate how you feel about somebody than putting your own paycheck up and saying, “look I believe in him so much that if we go over budget, I’ll pay for it.” The process is chaotic creatively, but that’s a very different thing from being reckless or irresponsible.
AFFLECK: I was willing to put my paycheck up, but it was so insignificant to the budget that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
Q: You’ve been in a number of movies together, and even several where you don’t actually share any scenes.
DAMON: That’s Chris Nolan. I feel like he likes both of us, but he doesn’t trust us together. In “Interstellar” he put us on entirely different planets. But in “Oppenheimer” we’re on the same planet, and my character actually refers to him. I feel like we’re slowly getting closer, and I’m hoping that eventually Chris has a movie where we can be together on screen.
AFFLECK: I heard the prequel to “Oppenheimer.”
DAMON: “Groves and Pash.”
Q: Hong, you went to college in Boston after “Good Will Hunting” came out. Did that movie loom large in your mind?
CHAU: Yeah, that was the only reason I decided to go to college period. But I mean, who hasn’t heard “how do you like them apples” a billion times in their life. It’s a movie that’s so iconic and memorable.
DAMON: By the way, that’s the one line that my dad, when he read the script, he said “Matthew, this is just not going to work.” And then after that he said he’d never give me a note again.
Q: Were you feeling nostalgic about those days, shooting this movie in Boston?
DAMON: I feel that way when I walk around the city sometimes. But when you’re shooting, you’re very aware during production you’re basically lighting money on fire. So all of your energy is towards making the day. There’s not a lot of time for nostalgia.
Q: And Ben was involved as a producer but no role for him here?
DAMON: He was running the company. Somebody needed to stay in the office. But he was really active in the pre-production stage, reading everything and giving notes and then in post. We’re looking for as many ways to work together as possible. Casey writes and produces, directs and acts, and Ben is the same, and I’m the same. We try to partner up in any way that we can. It’s fun to play different roles in different ways. I’m looking at the third act of life or the second half or whatever you want to call it, and it’s like, I love my job so much and the only thing better than doing it, is doing it with people that I care about and love and respect and admire.
Q: There were quite a few jabs about Matt’s age. Were those all Casey Affleck originals?
DAMON: Those were all improvised on the day.
AFFLECK: Those are things I’ve heard other people say about Matt and I thought they were funny, and I wanted to put them in a movie.
DAMON: It’s funny because in “Ocean’s 12” George was in his late 40s and Casey made a joke about him being 50. And we were talking about it on set, and I think it was that day Casey made the joke about me being 60. So, he’s just trotting out the same old.
AFFLECK: He was like 48?
DAMON: I think he was like 45. And you go how old are you 48? And he’s like 48? And you go 52. (Editor’s note: Clooney was 43).
AFFLECK: It was actually 56. A long time ago. And now he’s running for president.
DAMON: Oh yeah, let’s start that up with the AP. It’s a scoop.
AFFLECK: George said yes! He’s going to do it.
DAMON: You heard it from Casey Affleck.
