‘The Last Duel’: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Admit They Too Were Shocked by Their Controversial Looks
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up once again, this time for the movie The Last Duel. The pair have famously grown up in Hollywood side-by-side, though one could argue that Damon has surpassed Affleck in recent years.
The newest pairing of the two has them sporting some rather shocking hairstyles. Let’s take a look at the movie and the pair’s controversial new looks.
‘The Last Duel’ is a historical drama
Ridley Scott’s upcoming film, The Last Duel, which is based on Eric Jager’s book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal and Trial by Combat in Medieval France, documents the real-life drama that unfolded during the final legally sanctioned duel in France.
The movie depicts a man who goes to war only to come home to find that a friend has sexually assaulted his wife. When no one believes him, the soldier appeals to the king and asks that he be allowed to fight a duel to the death to determine the fate of the man who assaulted his wife.
Damon and Affleck’s hairstyles are a bit odd
The premise of the movie is rather serious. However, the hairstyles that the actors are sporting are controversial, to say the least. According to Entertainment Weekly, speaking of director Ridley Scott’s decision for the unusual quaffs, Affleck said:
“We were sort of shocked. But because he’s such a stunning visual artist and he’s the director, you trust him. But it does serve to help us both feel not like how people generally see us and also a part of this other world. That’s my guess about his intention.”
Affleck goes further by saying:
“It’s about representing power. I am the patriarchy, the power structure, all of these things embodied in this character, and visually, from the way I was dressed, adorned, and the hair … At first, I was like, ‘Wow this is shocking, you really think this is going to work? But he really believed in it, so it was like, ‘OK, I trust you. Let’s do it.’ I also didn’t understand the degree to which the added cyan and desaturation would change that look a little bit.”
“My character went to war constantly,” reflects Damon. “He wanted to fight. And Ridley liked the idea of the mullet as if I just took a knife and cut the sides of my hair just so I could get my helmet on. That’s all I cared about.”
Fans have mixed reactions to the hair
Fans are having mixed reactions to the hairstyles. Some have stated that the ridiculousness of the hairstyles is equal parts hilarious and downright bizarre. If fans can get over the shock of the hairstyles, the movie is definitely worth a look.
However, not all fans were completely turned off by the look. Some fans on Twitter thought Affleck still looked good, despite the “ridiculous” costuming.
Whether you like the hair or not, it’s refreshing to see these two paired together again. While the subject matter of the film is serious, some fans may find some amusement with the unconventional hairstyles chosen for Affleck and Damon.
The ends justify the means in this matter. The director was trying to convey a message through the hairstyles about the characters themselves. Scott did an excellent job at creating a visual representation of the characters before they even spoke a word of dialogue, and that’s not an easy task.
