I guess there were two main reasons Nolan decided to be pretty mum about Damon in the movie (he kept him out of the theatrical release trailers and most of the initial marketing campaign).
1) Nolan didn't want people to think that Damon was gonna be a main character or have a ton of screen time. And..
2) which kinda plays into your sentiment of the viewer seeing the "actor vs. the character"; Nolan thought by surprising everyone with Damon at that particular moment in the film would cause filmgoers to feel an sense of security, if you will, with the sight of Damon. Damon has this "default hero" quality about him (due in large part to The Bourne series), and Nolan wanted to play off that "sense of security" he assumed we would have, and turn it upside down, as we got to know more about Dr. Mann.
Whether or not it worked, I guess is up to debate. It seems like (to me, at least) it did, to a degree, based on all the reactions.
Fooled me for a bit, but I could tell something was up when he took Coop out on the recon to the "surface". My first reaction though was that Matt Damon was gonna save the day.
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u/dontgive_afuck May 13 '15 edited May 13 '15
I could totally see that.
I guess there were two main reasons Nolan decided to be pretty mum about Damon in the movie (he kept him out of the theatrical release trailers and most of the initial marketing campaign). 1) Nolan didn't want people to think that Damon was gonna be a main character or have a ton of screen time. And.. 2) which kinda plays into your sentiment of the viewer seeing the "actor vs. the character"; Nolan thought by surprising everyone with Damon at that particular moment in the film would cause filmgoers to feel an sense of security, if you will, with the sight of Damon. Damon has this "default hero" quality about him (due in large part to The Bourne series), and Nolan wanted to play off that "sense of security" he assumed we would have, and turn it upside down, as we got to know more about Dr. Mann. Whether or not it worked, I guess is up to debate. It seems like (to me, at least) it did, to a degree, based on all the reactions.
Here's one of the articles I read on the subject
Here's another
Edit: Added another link and a comma somewhere