Matt Damon reveals Christopher Nolan’s no-exceptions secrecy rule for Interstellar
While talking up The Odyssey, Matt Damon dropped a juicy tidbit: Christopher Nolan guarded the Interstellar script with a wild, no-exceptions rule that even his A-list cast had to obey — proof his secrecy game is on another level.
Christopher Nolan's known for being a bit of a control freak when it comes to his scripts (I mean that in the best possible way). But according to Matt Damon, the man’s standards for secrecy on Interstellar were... next level, even by Hollywood standards. Frankly, the story’s utterly bonkers, in a good way.
The Interstellar Script: Top Secret Delivery Only
So, Matt Damon's over in rural Germany filming The Monuments Men with George Clooney, minding his own business. Out of the blue, he gets word: 'Christopher Nolan’s casting for his next film. There’s a part for you.' Pretty standard so far, right? Damon replies, quite sensibly, 'Can I read the script?'
Here’s where it goes off the rails. Nolan’s team, determined not to let even a single page out into the wild, refuses to so much as send a .pdf. Instead:
- They send a production assistant – an actual human, on a plane – all the way to rural Germany.
- This PA rocks up at Damon’s door at 9pm with the script in hand, like a covert courier straight out of a spy film.
- Damon, being a proper professional, says 'Look, I have to be up at 5 in the morning for filming – can't do it tonight.'
- The PA has a minor existential crisis on the spot: dropping off the film's top-secret blueprint isn't allowed. Script must never leave his side. No exceptions.
- So, the poor bloke basically has to hang about Germany, with Damon's promise: 'I'll read it after my shoot tomorrow. But I genuinely can’t before then.'
'This kid shows up, and it’s 9 o’clock at night, and he goes, "Here’s the script." And I said, "Well, I’m I got to shoot at 5 in the morning. I’m going to bed right now." And he goes, "Oh." Like it hadn’t occurred to him. And I go, "You have to stay here!?" He goes, "I can’t leave the script."' – Matt Damon
Nolan & Damon: Interstellar to Odyssey
This was actually Damon's first time teaming up with Nolan, and he clearly made a strong enough impression to be called back for Oppenheimer in 2023, and now for Nolan’s The Odyssey project. But just picture it: a script guarded like the Crown Jewels, hand-delivered to rural Germany, and a sleep-deprived Matt Damon just trying to get through his shooting schedule.