Hollywood star Matt Damon has been a vocal supporter of the Democratic party and an outspoken critic of former US President Donald Trump. But the Oscar winner now hopes his new film will inspire people to reach across the political divide.
Speaking to The Big Issue about his latest movie, Stillwater, Damon says what unites us is so much greater “than the things that divide us”.
In the interview, he reveals how spending time researching in Oklahoma, a Republican stronghold, helped remind him of what connects people from different backgrounds.
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“The politicians will always stoke the divides because it’s in their self-interest,” he tells The Big Issue.
“But when we can just get together? They live differently down there than where I grew up, but how would I live if I lived in rural Oklahoma?
“They’ve chosen to organise their lives in a different way, but it makes total sense if that’s where you are. And then you start to make those connections. As an actor, I couldn’t do my job if I didn’t believe that.