“I was like, this is exactly how disasters happen,” Damon said, noting he realized “The Great Wall” was doomed after witnessing the movie’s Hollywood backers pressuring Zhang Yimou to sacrifice his vision. “It doesn’t cohere. It doesn’t work as a movie.” “I came to consider that the definition of a professional actor; knowing you’re in a turkey and going, ‘OK, I’ve got four more months. It’s the up at dawn siege on Hamburger Hill. I am definitely going to die here, but I’m doing it,’” Damon later said about his experience on the film. “That’s as shitty as you can feel creatively, I think. I hope to never have that feeling again.”
“The Great Wall” also found itself at the center of casting backlash. Many critics faulted the movie for perpetuating the white savior stereotype, as Damon stars as a European mercenary warrior who helps the Chinese fight off alien invaders. Damon said that he was thinking about race when he read the script, noting, “I saw the movie as the exact same plot as ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ ‘Dances with Wolves,’ [and] ‘Avatar.’ It’s an outsider comes into a new culture, finds value in the culture, brings some skill from the outside that aids them in their fight against whatever and they’re all changed forever.” While Damon is aware “The Great Wall” is a disaster, his daughter still manages to get in some good burns about the movie. As the Oscar winner explained, “Whenever she talks about the movie, she calls it ‘The Wall.’ And I’m like, come on, it’s called ‘The Great Wall.’ And she’s like, ‘Dad, there’s nothing great about that movie.’” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
