Matt Damon Called Out A Major Oscars Problem, And People Are Divided
Matt Damon Called Out A Major Oscars Problem, And People Are Divided
Ellen DurneyFri, November 13, 2026 at 9:49 AM UTC
18
Our guy Matt Damon knows a thing or two about the Academy Awards.
LEONARDO MUNOZ / Getty ImagesHe's received three acting nominations for Good Will Hunting, Invictus, and The Martian, and, of course, he and Ben Affleck won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting back in 1998. In 2017, he also received a Best Picture nomination for Manchester by the Sea, which he produced.
Ron Davis / Getty ImagesHonestly, it's pretty wild that Matt's never won an Oscar for acting, though that could change in 2027 thanks to his career-defining performance in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Melinda Sue Gordon / © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Related: "People Are Shook After Seeing Kim Kardashian’s Latest Itty-Bitty Skims Garments"
So, as Matt's 2027 Oscar campaign gets underway, the 56-year-old shared a very hot take about how he thinks the awards should actually be decided.
Michael Buckner / Getty Images"I think the real way they should do them, really, is 20 or 25 years later," he said in a recent GQ interview. "You'll have a really good idea of which movies really endured and really still matter to you."
GQ / Viayoutu.be"There can be hype in the moment; it can be a zeitgeist thing, but it doesn't hold up," he continued, saying that his "goal" is to make movies that stand the test of time 20 years later.
GQ / Viayoutu.be"That's a cool thing. You know, people come up [to me] about Good Will Hunting, and I realized they weren't born when the movie came out," he said, "which is like me going up to somebody who made a movie in 1950."
©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
Related: "17 People Who've Worked With Celebs Reveal Their Worst Interactions"
Given that the Oscars are such a divisive topic for movie lovers, it hasn't taken long for Matt's comments to pick up traction — and it seems like a lot of people agree with what he's saying.
GQ / Viayoutu.be"I fully agree on this. How popular a movie is shouldn't be winning awards. And it often weighs heavily on the Oscars," one Reddit user wrote. "People want to believe it's all craft, talent, and such. But word of mouth, box office success, and 'phenomena' of the film itself does play a part into how sweeping any other movie performs on the award circuits. The Hurt Locker won Best Picture in 2010. Who the fuck is thinking about The Hurt Locker in 2026? Yet people are still talking about 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968) or The Godfather (1972)."
Summit Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection, Courtesy Everett CollectionSomeone else agreed that "he’s got a point." "The Oscar hype train, while super fun to watch as a pop culture fan, promotes so many movies and performances that really don’t hold up," they wrote. "20 years is excessive, but I honestly think even a year or two would help."
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
Related: "Is Your Restaurant Good Enough To Pass Gordon Ramsay's Inspection?"
People suggested that it could be its own "Hall of Fame" category. "Like 'Anniversary Edition / The Hindsight Award,'" one user suggested, "where they revisit the Best Picture award but allow non-nominees (essentially just a write-in campaign, I suppose)."
Kevin Winter / Getty ImagesOther examples of Best Picture wins that people thought haven't aged that well include Crash, which won in 2006 over the heavily favored Brokeback Mountain...
©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection, ©Focus Films/Courtesy Everett Collection...and Shakespeare in Love, which took the win in 1999 over Saving Private Ryan, which Matt was in.
©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection, ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett CollectionHowever, others feel that it's not a bad thing to award movies that were a product of their time. "I get what he is saying but I also think sometimes it's good for the Zeitgeist to be reflected, no?" one user wrote. "Like [Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won Best Picture in 2023] is very much of its time, as is Parasite [which won Best Picture in 2020] to a degree, and I think that's good to see after."
Rich Polk / Getty Images
Related: "99 Former Child Stars Who Are Now Fully Grown Adults, And Are Unrecognizable Now"
Advertisement
"I think the whole point of the Oscars is it captures the zeitgeist. I wouldn’t want to lose that. Films that are truly good don’t need the Oscars," another comment read, while someone else said the Academy Awards, as they are, are "reflective of the times and help demonstrate different elements of history."
Kevork Djansezian / Getty ImagesSo, what do you make of this? I'm with Matt because I personally lose sleep over the fact that The King's Speech won Best Picture over The Social Network in 2011. Seriously, WTF happened there? (No offense, Colin Firth.)
©Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection, ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett CollectionYou can watch the full GQ interview here. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.Some Reddit comments were edited for length or clarity.
Your daily brain workout: I Honestly Think You're A Genius If You Can Get Through These Word Chains Without A Single Mistake
Also in Celebrity: "Which Celebrity Is The Same Age As You?"
Also in Celebrity: "14 Stars Whose Fame Cost Them Their Relationships"
Read it on BuzzFeed.com
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
