Matt Damon says the media gave up on him because he was ‘boring’: ‘What sells magazines is sex and scandal’

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Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

Matt Damon has reflected on the impact of fame on his life – and vice versa.

The actor was asked how he handles fame during a masterclass he gave at the Cannes Film Festival, according to Deadline.

“The media gave up on me because I was so boring. What sells magazines is sex and scandal,” he said.

“Everybody knows I’m married and a dad, and relatively free of scandal, it’s not worth their money to sit outside my house. They also know I’ll wait them out.”

The actor has been married since 2005 to Luciana Barroso. The couple have three children together, and Damon also has a stepdaughter from Barroso’s previous marriage.

In the same masterclass, Damon discussed his decision to turn down an offer to star in James Cameron’s Avatar, which went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time (earning $2,8bn around the world).

“I was offered a little movie called Avatar, James Cameron offered me 10 per cent of it,” Damon said. “I will go down in history … you will never meet an actor who turned down more money.”

Damon is featured in Stillwater, an upcoming crime drama also starring Abigail Breslin and Call My Agent’s Camille Cottin. He portrays an American father who travels from Oklahoma to France, where his daughter has been arrested for a murder she says she didn’t commit.