Matt Damon has joked that Charlize Theron “won the genetic lottery” because she has barely aged since they first worked together 26 years ago. The pair starred in the 2000 film The Legend of Bagger Vance and have reunited for Sir Christopher Nolan’s new epic The Odyssey. Damon, 55, told ELLE magazine: “I don’t know why only one of us aged. She won the genetic lottery.”
Damon praised Theron as “somebody I’ve always really rooted for” and “a formidable woman and a great, great actress”. He recalled filming The Odyssey on a windy beach in Morocco, where Theron endured “massive discomfort” from sand blowing into her eyes during 30- to 40-mile-per-hour winds. “She’s just a boss,” he said. “She is one of those people who won’t complain, ever.”
Theron recently revealed that her two daughters, Jackson, 12, and August, nine, are not impressed by her film career. She told The Hollywood Reporter: “They’re kids. They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.” She hopes that one day they will appreciate her stunts, such as hanging from a helicopter in The Old Guard 2, and say: “You know what, Mom? It was pretty bad*** when you were 50 and you were hanging off that helicopter. We never gave you your props.”
