Yes, Matt Damon did go through a significant weight gain change for his role as Bill Baker in Stillwater, which was released on July 30, 2021. He explained that he was inspired by the character and wanted to make realistic as possible.
Matthew Paige Damon aka Matt Damon is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter who is named among Forbes‘ most bankable stars. His films have grossed over $3.88 billion at the North American box office, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
In 2021, Matt Damon looked a little heavier in Stillwater, in which he played the role of Bill Baker. We’ve recently found that many people have been interested to know if he gained weight for the movie. Well, we’ve got you covered.
Previously, we touched on the weight gain stories of Jason Momoa and Kate Winslet.
Yes, Matt Damon Did Gain Weight for His Role in Stillwater!
Yes, Matt Damon did undergo a significant amount of weight gain transformation for his character Bill Baker in the movie Stillwater which was released on July 30, 2021. At the time, he revealed to Vanity Fair that he traveled to Oklahoma to prepare for the movie where he was motivated to change his appearance.
Matt Damon’s weight gain appearance in Stillwater.
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Matt Damon’s weight gain journey all began when he arrived in Marlow, Oklahoma to shadow real-life oil riggers. At the time the Oscar winner was hoping that spending time with industrious manual laborers like his character Bill would help him play one convincingly onscreen. But first, the actor had to explain Stillwater’s situation to his shocked muses.
“They were justifiably wary when we showed up,” Damon recalled of himself and Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), who co-wrote and directed Stillwater and accompanied Damon on the trip. Later, he allowed some of the oil riggers, notably Kenny Baker, to read the script to demonstrate that the Hollywood filmmakers planned to portray the men who work on the rigs in the historically red state accurately and sympathetically.
Matt Damon had gathered a smorgasbord of character data from Baker by the time filming began. In addition to mimicking Baker’s speech manner and compact stance, he adopted his outfit of flame-retardant pants, sunglasses, and a goatee. Later, he addressed his physical transformation in Stillwater almost analytically. He explained,
It’s like, ‘What do I have to do to look like this guy?’ It’s about looking at yourself in the mirror and believing the physicality. And then the internal side just all comes from you anyway, it’s just through that filter of that guy. The internal side you take with you everywhere goes with you anyway. It’s all your emotions.
Matt Damon’s latest appearance.
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Later, Tom McCarthy joked that he was never in France with Matt Damon—he was there with Bill Baker. Meanwhile, Damon claimed that while filming in Europe, he was able to travel around almost undetected as Bill. He explained,
People just took me as a tourist most of the time, they didn’t look twice at me. I changed my body a little bit and put some weight on because, to do that job, you have to be really strong.I really felt like I came away with a real great understanding of this [character] Bill and why he does everything he does, even the things that you cringe at in the movie—where you go, ‘Oh, God, no, don’t do that.
Matt Damon’s trip to Oklahoma coincided with Donald Trump‘s administration and polarizing political themes, which led to lively talks between the actor and his muses. Damon explained,
I mean, in Oklahoma, they work in the oil fields—they’re going to vote red down the ticket all the time. For them, and from at least the guys I was talking to about it, it’s kind of a binary proposition. It’s ‘Well, I’m going to put food on my table and my family’s going to eat.’ It’s like, if that’s the way you’re going to look at it and frame it, there’s not really a decision to be made. I get it. We didn’t get much deeper than that in the conversation. For me it’s always about building empathy for a character. This guy Bill is someone that the coastal elite tend to look down on…
