Matt Damon Talks About What it Takes to Succeed as an Actor

Matt Damon talks about his early years, hustling around to auditions and figuring out that he was going to need to do something different to stand out.

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[eton_]

The system is not built for you to succeed, you have to break through it.

[jaimebarbosa]

Steps
1: want it more
2: work harder. Practice as much as you can
3: Never give up

[vincej]

“I’m gonna beat that guy, I want it waaay more than him.” Wow, those words spoke to me

[jinglejangle]

I think everyone talks about the power of hard work, but Damon did something different here. He did not fail to emphasize the power of luck. That is honesty.

[yourmajesty]

If you can't/won't distinguish yourself from the masses, then yes, you will succumb to what happens to the masses of actors who go through the system. Matt and Ben saw this algorithm and did the work necessary to break into the inner circle of success.
This is literally the definition a success in most industries.

[johnteeboon]

"The system isn't designed for you to succeed. You've got to break through it some how." So true!

[stickwoodthebrand]

I love how in these interviews the interviewer let the actors talk, you won’t ever see that on kimmel or fallon

[davidjames-cameron]

Write your own movie and then win an oscar for best screenplay and get nominated for an oscar. Thats how you succeed in Hollywood

[Balthazar]

Rule #1) Be the best
Rule #2) Work harder than everyone else

[joedotphp]

"The system is rigged against you" is a more blunt translation. And it's true.

[WonderfulHayden]

Excellent insights from Matt.

1) Part of life is learning how to take a leap of faith, fall/fail to reach the other side, walk home and lick your wounded pride, then go out into the world the next day and take another leap of faith. That's true not only in acting, but across all other fields.

2) Sometimes you have to produce the roles you want, like Matt and Ben did with Good Will Hunting after auditioning for so long and not landing the leading roles they were so desperately hoping for.

[robertdavis]

God damn, everything he says is inspiring, if you want it bad enough you just have to push yourself to work harder, you can't fail if you never give up, even if you never achieve wide reknown, if its your passion you cannot be wrong.

[someguyontheinternet]

Work hard and be lucky. That's life lol.

[armancz]

Oh, Primal Fear was absolutely phenomenal, I saw it in a theatre and remember walking out blown away especially cause you understand it all right at the end, absolutely phenomenal.

[gorami]

I want to be an actor so fucking badly, Matt really gave me something inspiring to think about

[lilliansims]

The greatest thing I have learned in film is this, create the role you want to see yourself in. What he and Matt did is what we all could do. Create the most incredible story, and then allow yourself to take that role.

[danran]

This Dead Poets story has really stuck with me. Great perspective on how there can be such a range of outcomes.

[dreamsofkaia]

I love the realness of this...Really needed to hear this today.

[Caperhere]

I remember how good Primal Fear was as a book. I’m not crazy about movies, but when that came out, I could hardly wait to go see it. Ed Norton was fantastic in it. He became a household name for me, so any movie that had his name in it had me going to see him. He’s never disappointed.

[marsandfruit]

Basically making your own stuff does wonders. Seriously ✨