It was a closely guarded secret for weeks but Hollywood royalty Matt Damon has been locked down in a tiny village and locals are loving him for it. Photo / Instagram
It was a closely guarded secret for weeks but Hollywood royalty Matt Damon has been locked down in a tiny village and locals are loving him for it. Photo / Instagram
US actor Matt Damon has firmly cemented his status as one of the world's nicest superstars after living a "fairytale" lockdown life in an Irish village.
The Good Will Hunting star has been staying in Dalkey, Ireland, on the outskirts of Dublin, since early March when he arrived with his family to finish shooting The Last Duel with Ridley Scott.
However with the world plunged into a pandemic shortly after, Damon, his wife Luciana Barroso and three younger daughters decided to stay put rather than hotfoot it home on a private jet.
News of The Departed star's presence in the area was at first a closely-guarded local secret, however word got out when he was pictured taking a swim with his towel in a supermarket bag and he phoned into a local radio station to give them the scoop of a lifetime.
"I honestly feel like I'm about to throw up … this doesn't seem real," said Nathan, of the Fully Charged with Graham and Nathan show.
"I don't know if you are aware but the Dalkey people are protecting you like a glorious gem," he said, mentioning his efforts to track him down via a local Facebook group.
The incredible Airbnb home Matt Damon stayed in while in Ireland. Photo / Airbnb
Damon laughed at the news and said he had "no idea" but it made him "realise how great this place was."
"It's incredible, this is one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. Obviously what's going on in the world is horrible but for my family it timed out."
He said he moved there for what the family thought would be eight weeks to shoot the movie and brought teachers for their three younger children as they would be out of school.
"We've got what nobody else has which is actual live human beings teaching our kids. We feel guilty. We've got this kind of incredible set up in this place."
"It feels a little like a fairytale here."
Meanwhile the woman behind the infamous photo has explained what happened the day she bumped into him having a swim at a local beach.
"We were out for a family swim and we bumped into Matt and his family. It was all very cool – no one else around … just his (and my family) enjoying the freezing cold water and having a laugh!" Siobhan Berry of Mummy Cooks wrote on Instagram.
"As we were all leaving, he very politely obliged for a photo, leaning in with his @supervalu_irl bag keeping the social distance!"
"As he confirmed on the radio, he was holding a bag of swim gear and towels – not cans!!"
She said the couple agreed not to share the photo but it leaked out via a family WhatsApp group.
"We felt awful and really sorry about the whole situation; we wrote an apology letter to him but never got to deliver it. After hearing him on radio today, he obviously sees the funny side and the fact that the photo ultimately turned into one of the feel-good stories of the early summer."
Damon also spoke about his role in Contagion – a film made nine years ago that has taken on an eerie second life during the pandemic.
"The whole thing, it's tragic and sad, I hope some good can come out of it. Luckily this isn't as lethal as it might have been so maybe this is a really good dry run for the big one," he said.
