BOSTON (WHDH) - Longtime friends and co-stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck pay homage to their hometown in their latest movie, “The Instigators.”
Ahead of the film’s release, both Damon and Affleck sat down with 7NEWS to answer questions and talk about what it was like being back in Boston.
In “The Instigators,” Damon and Affleck play two reluctant robbers teaming up to steal from a corrupt politician. Damon plays Rory, a desperate father who turns to crime to help his kid.
Affleck wrote the story and created the characters. When asked what aspects of Rory’s character fit Damon as a person, Affleck had an immediate answer.
“Demanding, difficult, sullen,” Affleck said, laughing.
“Anything I’m doing, I’m hoping Matt’s going to be part of in some way,” he continued.
Moviegoers will notice no shortage of local landmarks. Film crews took over parts of the city in March and April of last year.
On screen, you see the stars speeding along the Charles River, busting through the Back Bay, and doing damage at City Hall.
Affleck and Damon said the movie just had to be made in Boston.
“We wanted it to be made here. We love coming back here and honestly, this sense of humor and sensibility that we share is so much rooted in Boston, we felt like it’s the best place for it,” Affleck said.
“If you put it somewhere else, no one would believe that they were that sarcastic and cynical,” Damon said.
When asked how brothers Casey and Ben Affleck are alike and different as actors, Damon praised the two for their work ethics.
“They’re both very demanding of themselves. I would say they both work incredibly hard. They’re both really, really great at what they do,” Damon said.
“Casey drives me up the wall, but I say that in a really loving way,” he continued.
“That was the nicest possible answer you could have given,” Affleck responded.
The local ties don’t end there. Co-star Hong Chau is a Boston University graduate.
“I met my husband when I went to college here in Boston. He grew up outside about 45 minutes outside of Boston, so I feel like Boston is my second hometown,” Chau said.
As for the hometown boys, they enjoy feeling at home with their co-stars.
“You can work with wonderful people and work with them again and again and that really is a joyful thing,” Damon said.
“The Instigators” opens in select theaters including theaters in Boston on Friday. You can stream the film on Apple TV+ starting Aug. 9.
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