STILLWATER Star Matt Damon Was Forced To Turn Down The Role Of Harvey Dent In THE DARK KNIGHT

STILLWATER Star Matt Damon Was Forced To Turn Down The Role Of Harvey Dent In THE DARK KNIGHT

During a new interview, Stillwater star Matt Damon reveals that he was offered the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, but was forced to pass on the opportunity.

By MarkCassidy - Aug 03, 2021 11:08 AM EST
Filed Under: The Dark Knight
Source: Via The Playlist

Aaron Eckhart gave a memorable (some would say underrated) performance as Harvey Dent in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight back in 2008, but if the director had his druthers, the role would have gone to none other than Matt Damon.

While speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Damon delved into some of the parts he was forced to pass up over the years, and by far the biggest was the opportunity to play the iconic Batman villain.

“Well, Dark Knight was a small role that I was offered,” said Damon, jokingly downplaying the gig. “There was some other big movie, some big part that I was doing where I was like, ‘Well, I can’t play Harvey Dent... But you gotta be sanguine about it and go, ‘It all works out.’"

Funnily enough, The Dark Knight wasn't Damon's first brush with Batman, as the actor revealed that he was also up for the role of Robin - twice!

The Boy Wonder was originally going to be introduced in Tim Burton's first Batman movie before plans changed, and Damon auditioned for the part. Then, years later he found himself in line to play Dick Grayson in Batman and Robin.

“In 1993, I was one of the final three to play Robin in the George Clooney/Joel Schumacher Batman,” he explained. “Chris O’Donnell had the part, but they were haggling over money, and so the studio was flexing by flying two other people to screen test, but they wanted Chris, but they wanted him for a price. And I knew Chris and I remember calling him and being like, ‘I’ll work for a quarter of what that dude’s [asking for],” he laughed. “I want the job! So I flew in and auditioned for Joel, but they always intended it for Chris.”

So, Damon hasn't had much luck when it comes to Batman, but he has appeared in the MCU as "Fake Loki," and is set to reprise the role for Thor: Love and Thunder. Could a more substantial superhero/villain role be in his future, perhaps?

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regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 8/3/2021, 11:08 AM
Love Eckhart in the role but Damon would’ve crushed it, too.
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 8/3/2021, 11:19 AM
soberchimera
soberchimera - 8/3/2021, 11:11 AM
He dodged a gigantic bullet, the Schumacher Batman films destroyed O’Donnell’s career.
Battabing
Battabing - 8/3/2021, 12:59 PM
@soberchimera -
Well, O'Donnell has been working steady on NCIS: LA for 13 years.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 8/3/2021, 1:09 PM
@Battabing - Ok, film career at least.
grif
grif - 8/3/2021, 11:13 AM
both would be great but looking back i am glad that eckart was less well known. damon was already a huge star and i would look at him saying this is mat damon playing two face.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 8/3/2021, 11:25 AM
Good.

Aaron Eckhart was the f*cking GOAT in it.
Without him, the movie fails.

Shame that Heath's Joker overshadows everyone but i'm that lil voice in the crowed saying how important Eckhart was to the goddamn movie till the end!
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/3/2021, 11:26 AM
Not mad about it at all. Eckhart gave an amazing performance.
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 8/3/2021, 11:28 AM
Unpopular opinion, but I think Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two-Face is the most important piece of the puzzle that made TDK so great.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 8/3/2021, 11:31 AM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - think @Doomsday8888 agrees with that, and so do I. In my opinion it just what makes all the small things click between Joker and Batman.

The Joker/Batman dynamic probably would've still been great, but putting Dent into the middle of it all gives it a sense of moral deadline to it. One that keeps getting postponed, even after Dent transforms into Two-Face.
Godzilla2000Zer
Godzilla2000Zer - 8/3/2021, 11:28 AM
Love Matt Damon but Aaron Eckhart gave one helluva performance which I would also agree that it's underrated.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 8/3/2021, 11:28 AM
Eckhart as Dent was amazing, but I would be lying if I didn't wanna know how Damon would've done in the role.

Damon as Robin though? I doubt that really would've worked.
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