In an interview with USA Today on Jan. 15, 2026, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck opened up about their decades-long friendship and careers<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
During the discussion, Damon revealed the “one movie that got away” and the actor who ultimately landed the role<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
He and Affleck also promoted their latest collaboration, The Rip, which is now streaming on Netflix<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Matt Damon<\/a> admitted there is one movie he wishes was in his filmography.<\/p>\n When asked during an interview with USA Today<\/a> if there was a particular project from the last three decades that Damon felt was the one “that got away,” the 55-year-old actor revealed it was a part in the 2008 biographical film Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant.<\/p>\n \u201cI was supposed to do Milk with Gus,\u201d Damon told USA Today. \u201cThen Sean [Penn] had something happen to his schedule, and he had to push the movie, which made it a conflict for me, so I got recast with Josh Brolin<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Focus Features <\/p>\n Josh Brolin in ‘Milk.’<\/p>\n The film tells the story of Harvey Milk<\/a>, a pioneering activist who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, played by Penn, who won an Academy Award for the role.<\/p>\n Brolin, meanwhile, played politician Dan White, who assassinated Milk and Mayor George Moscone in November 1978. Brolin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards for his performance.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved the script and I\u2019d already done research on it. But as much as I wanted to be in that, it was probably better served by Josh. He was amazing,\u201d Damon admitted. \u201cIt was a moment in my 30s when I was like, \u2018That must\u2019ve happened for a reason.\u2019 So I was sanguine about it at the end,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Warrick Page\/Netflix<\/p>\n Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in ‘The Rip.’<\/p>\n While Damon missed that opportunity, his career has continued to flourish, leading to new collaborations \u2013 most recently with his longtime friend, Ben Affleck<\/a>, in The Rip<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the Netflix film, Damon and Affleck play Miami police officers Lt. Dane Dumars and Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne, whose loyalties are tested after discovering a large sum of cash.<\/p>\n The action thriller, written and directed by Joe Carnahan<\/a>, is inspired by a personal experience of one of Carnahan\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n “The Rip came out of a deeply personal experience that my friend went through, both as a father and as head of tactical narcotics for the Miami-Dade police department,\u201d Carnahan previously told Tudum<\/a>.<\/p>\n The film is now available to stream on Netflix.<\/p>\n![\"Focus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c81835ad19c0b33b6fc26d5e4cee5b98.jpeg\"\/)
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