Matt Damon Had to Choose Between Christopher Nolan and His Wife

Matt Damon had to make a big decision: star in acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer (2023) or take a break from acting, as he promised his wife Luciana Bozán he would.

Clearly, as Oppenheimer will be hitting the theaters opposite Margot Robbie‘s Barbie this coming week, and Matt Damon will star in it as Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, we know what decision he made.

However, it apparently took a whole lot of discussion in order to make that happen. In a recent episode of Entertainment Weekly’s Around the Table with Christopher Nolan and Oppenheimer costars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon revealed that he had promised Luciana Bozán that he would take time off from acting as part of couples therapy.

Related: “The Dumbest Thing an Actor Has Ever Done,” Matt Damon Opens up About ‘Avatar’ Franchise

However, Matt Damon made sure there was a very specific exemption to this concession in couples therapy: if Christopher Nolan called him, he would get to take a role. From the sounds of it, pretty much any part in a Nolan would do.

“This is going to sound made up, but it’s actually true,” Matt Damon said. “I had — not to get too personal — negotiated extensively with my wife that I was taking time off. I had been in Interstellar, and then Chris put me on ice for a couple of movies, so I wasn’t in the rotation, but I actually negotiated in couples therapy ­— this is a true story — the one caveat to my taking time off was if Chris Nolan called. This is without knowing whether or not he was working on anything, because he never tells you. He just calls you out of the blue. And so, it was a moment in my household.”

As Matt Damon mentions, he previously had a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s science fiction epic Interstellar (2014), in which he played a NASA astronaut marooned light years from home. While it may have been a relatively minor role, Damon clearly got a taste for working with the director behind The Dark Knight (2008).

Oppenheimer will star Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, the real-life United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who constructed the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic weapons used by the United States in World War II against Japan.

Related: ‘Barbie’ vs. ‘Oppenheimer:’ Tom Cruise Reveals His First Pick

Cillian Murphy portrays J Robert Oppenheimer, the lead scientist of the project, while Emily Blunt plays his wife Katharine. Robert Downey Jr plays influential American businessman Lewis Strauss, while an enormous cast, including Florence Pugh, Casey Affleck, and Kenneth Branagh, supports them.

Should Matt Damon take some time off from working after Oppenheimer? Let us know in the comments below!