In October 2004, Matt Damon was filming Syriana in Switzerland with producer and co-star George Clooney. Half a world away, Damon’s beloved Boston Red Sox had just won the American League Championship Series and would be going to the World Series. Damon knew he had to be in Boston for the series. That meant he had to ask Clooney for some time off filming what would become one of Clooney’s best movies. Millions of dollars go into movie productions; does it make sense for one of the stars to bail for a few days to go to a baseball game? For Damon, it did. Here’s what Clooney said.
This Was A Big Deal For Damon And All Sox Fans
The Red Sox had just pulled off the most unlikely comeback of all time when they defeated their rival, the New York Yankees, after coming back from a 0-3 deficit in the American League Championship Series. That meant that for the first time in 18 years, the Red Sox would be trying, once again, to win a World Series, something that had infamously eluded them for nearly a century. Damon was determined to go.
So, Damon called Clooney and sheepishly asked for a little time off, saying:
This might be the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever said in my life, but… I can’t work next week.
That may sound a little bonkers if you’re not a baseball fan, especially if you’re not a Red Sox fan, but we all know how much Damon loves his hometown and his hometown sports teams. I certainly can relate (more on that below). Clooney is no dummy, and he knew the score, laughing and telling him, in Damon’s words:
I already changed the schedule. I know you gotta get home for the World Series.
So Damon flew to Boston from Geneva to watch his team in the opening games of the 2004 World Series against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals. My team. And, here’s the rub for me.
I Hate That World Series
You have to understand something about the 2004 Cardinals. They were flat-out amazing. They led all of baseball with 105 wins. I watched most of those. I was all-in on that team. To this day, it’s my favorite team of all time. Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds were the “MV3,” finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the MVP voting, respectively. Chris Carpenter, Matt Morris, and Jason Marquis had 15 wins apiece on the mound. They were unstoppable. Until they ran into the buzzsaw that was the Red Sox.
Fate, it turns out, had something else in mind for my team. The Red Sox were truly a team of destiny. It was a great baseball movie in the making. First, they vanquished their usually more successful rivals in seven games, completing the epic comeback. Then, they simply destroyed the Cardinals, sweeping the World Series in four games. It wasn’t even close.
The Red Sox had finally overcome the “Curse of the Bambino,” and Damon, his BFF Ben Affleck (who later had to wear a Cardinals hat in Gone Girl), and all the Sox fans around New England had cause to celebrate for the first time in 86 years. I’m still bitter about it, but I get it. I totally get why he had to have Clooney temporarily upend an expensive shooting schedule, because I would’ve wanted to do the same if I were in that position.
At least we know that the production of The Odyssey, which Damon has called “the best experience of my career,” and will hit the 2026 movie schedule next summer, wasn’t interrupted.