Hollywood star Matt Damon may have missed the chance to work with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur more than two decades ago, but the collaboration remains on both their wish lists. Kapur has now welcomed the actor’s interest, saying he would gladly work with the Oscar-winning star.
According to the Hindustan Times, Kapur responded after Damon expressed his admiration during the Mumbai press conference for The Odyssey. The filmmaker said there was hardly any director in the world who would not want to work with an actor of Damon’s emotional depth. He praised Damon’s performance in Good Will Hunting, saying the famous scene with Robin Williams had moved him to tears every time he watched it.
Kapur also suggested that the long-awaited collaboration could finally become a reality. He said that while events move between the past, present and future, time exists in imagination. Addressing Damon directly, he added that it was now time for them to work together.
During The Odyssey press conference, Damon recalled that Kapur had always been among the filmmakers he wanted to collaborate with. He revealed that he had been disappointed when he could not join Kapur’s 2002 film The Four Feathers because of a scheduling conflict. Damon said he had likely been committed to a Bourne film at the time and had carried that regret with him for more than 20 years.
Directed by Shekhar Kapur, The Four Feathers was released in 2002 and adapted from A.E.W. Mason’s novel of the same name. The period drama starred the late Heath Ledger as British officer Harry Feversham, who secretly returns to Sudan to restore his honour after being branded a coward for leaving his regiment. Kate Hudson, Wes Bentley and Djimon Hounsou also featured in key roles.
Kapur’s next directorial project is Masoom: The New Generation. The film revisits the emotional themes of the 1983 classic through a contemporary story centred on identity, family, love and migration. Veteran actors Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah are set to reprise their roles from the original, while production is expected to begin later this year.
