The good folks over at Popeater have brought my extremely limited attention to a case of cinematic what-if involving erstwhile Will Hunting and the biggest movie of all time. Apparently, Matt Damon was at one point in talks with James Cameron to star in Avatar as wheelchair-bound war veteran Jake Sully, a role that eventually went to then-unknown Australian actor Sam Worthington.
"I talked to Cameron and I read the script and I knew the movie was gonna be a big hit," Damon tells WENN. "I really wanted to do 'Avatar' and work with Jim Cameron and watch him direct and learn a lot." So why didn't we see the Matty Damon as a nine foot-tall blue alien roaming the jungles of Pandora? Scheduling issues involving his last outing as amnesiac ass-kicker Jason Bourne. Damon explains, "We were finishing The Bourne Ultimatum, and I couldn't leave. It was a scheduling issue."
Just think, we could be living in a world where Sam Worthington wasn't consistently apologizing for mediocre blockbusters like Terminator: Salvation and Clash of the Titans. That rosy alternate universe aside, I think it might have been too weird to see an actor as recognizable as Damon playing a Na'vi. Do you wish that schedules had worked out and Damon were the messianic white man for the beleagured natives of Pandora?
Well, Mat is a nice actor but thank god he wasn’t the star!!! The movie wouldn’t be as great as it was without Sammy.
ReplyDeleteuhhh, Sam was perfect for the role.
ReplyDeletewouldn't have liked it if it weren't for him.