Hollywood superstar Matt Damon was an outspoken liberal who very publicly voted for and backed Hillary Clinton back in 2016. But Damon admitted earlier this week that while doing research as an oil rig worker who is a Trump supporter in his role for an upcoming movie was “really eye-opening” for the liberal.
According to Variety, Damon engaged in deep research of “red state identity politics” to portray his character as an Oklahoma oil rig worker in the new movie “Stillwater.”
In the movie, Damon’s character is Bill Baker, “a father who sacrifices everything to help free his daughter from a French prison, after she is convicted of murdering her roommate while studying abroad,” Variety explained.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Damon explained he spent weeks with actual oil rig workers in Oklahoma to understand exactly who they are to better incorporate their identity into his character.
“Being invited into their homes, into a backyard barbecue, a guitar comes out and they start singing church songs. It’s a very specific place… and very different to where I grew up,” Damon said, Reuters reported.
“It was really eye-opening for me,” Damon admitted, adding that he grew to appreciate the smallest details of the oil rig workers, from their jeans with fire retardant, to their goatees and sunglasses. “They’re not six-pack abs guys, but they’re strong,” he said.
In fact, Damon said he knows the character that he portrayed undoubtedly would have voted for Donald Trump.
“They’re in the oil business, of course, he voted for Trump. These people were wonderful to us, they really helped us,” Damon said. “These guys don’t apologize for who they are.”
The movie premiers on July 30.
