Interstellar‘s villain twist with Dr. Mann has aged well in the decade since the Christopher Nolan movie was released. The 2014 movie saw Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), Professor Romilly (David Gyasi), and the robots TARS and CASE (Bill Irwin) travel across space and time to find a hospitable planet for humans. The second planet they traveled to was an icy world where the scientists found Dr. Mann, a NASA astronaut from the Lazarus program who had been there for decades.
While McConaughey, Hathaway, and the rest of Interstellar‘s cast members were prominently featured in the marketing, the actor playing Dr. Mann was kept a secret. This made it all the more surprising to see Matt Damon in the role, since he was and continues to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood. The surprise did not end there, however, as Dr. Mann, who was seemingly an ally to Cooper and Amelia, turned out to be a villain in Interstellar, in what became one of the movie’s biggest twists.
Interstellar’s Mann Twist Is Even Better Knowing Matt Damon Would Become A Recurrent Nolan Actor
Dr. Mann Was Just The Beginning
Part of what has helped Dr. Mann’s twist age well is how Damon became a recurrent actor in Nolan’s movies. From Cillian Murphy to Michael Caine, many actors have played a wide range of roles across Nolan’s vast filmography. Interstellar was Damon’s first role in a Nolan movie, but it would pave the way for him to star in more of the acclaimed director’s projects. The second collaboration came almost a full decade later when Damon played General Leslie Groves, the real-life individual who oversaw the Manhattan Project, in the Academy Award-winning Oppenheimer.
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More interestingly, Nolan’s next movie will also star Damon, marking the third collaboration between the actor and the director. Seeing Dr. Mann gradually revealed as a villain and choosing himself over the greater good of humanity is even more effective when knowing that it is only the beginning of a long-term partnership between Damon and Nolan. Damon has now become one of Nolan’s go-to actors, who played important but ultimately, supporting characters in two of Nolan’s best movies, and who will now lead the cast of Nolan’s mysterious 2026 movie.
How Christopher Nolan Pulled Off The Matt Damon Villain Twist In Interstellar
It Went Beyond The Script
In addition to the actor’s performance and Nolan’s direction, Damon’s Interstellar role worked well because the actor’s involvement was kept a secret before the theatrical release. This meant that there were no preconceived expectations about who Dr. Mann was. When he first appeared, and the audience saw he was played by Damon, the immediate inclination was to trust Dr. Mann, as Damon usually played honorable good guys.
With a different actor whose casting was known ahead of time, Dr. Mann’s betrayal would not have been as surprising or effective in the 2014 movie.
The character’s name, Dr. Mann, even made him seem trustworthy, indicating he is just a regular man who will help ensure the survival of Cooper, Amelia, and all of humanity. This made it all the more shocking when Dr. Mann proceeded to betray them, during which his failed docking attempt got Professor Romilly killed and grievously damaged the scientists’ spacecraft. With a different actor whose casting was known ahead of time, Dr. Mann’s betrayal would not have been as surprising or effective in the 2014 movie.
Matt Damon Coming Out Of His Acting Break For Oppenheimer Was A Great Decision
It Further Elevated His Successful Career
Before being cast in Oppenheimer, Damon planned to take an acting break, with his one caveat being if Nolan contacted him to be in a movie. Accepting Nolan’s offer proved to be a tremendous move for Damon’s career, beginning with his prominent role in Oppenheimer‘s star-studded cast. He played an important part in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, which also became the third highest-grossing movie of 2024 at $987.5 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), with only Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie able to earn more at the worldwide box office.
|
Movie |
2023 Worldwide Box Office Gross |
|---|---|
|
Barbie |
$1.446 billion |
|
The Super Mario Bros. Movie |
$1.36 billion |
|
Oppenheimer |
$987.5 million |
Damon is now poised to be the face of Nolan’s 2026 movie in the same way that Murphy, who won an Academy Award for his performance, was at the forefront of Oppenheimer. The ongoing collaboration between Nolan and Damon has now made him just as much of a recurrent actor for the director as Murphy, Caine, Christian Bale, and Tom Hardy. Since Oppenheimer, Damon has appeared in other movies, including Apple TV+’s The Instigators, where he starred alongside Casey Affleck, but Damon’s most promising future project is in Nolan’s 2026 movie, which is only happening because of Interstellar.
From Christopher Nolan, Interstellar imagines a future where the Earth is plagued by a life-threatening famine, and a small team of astronauts is sent out to find a new prospective home among the stars. Despite putting the mission first, Coop (Matthew McConaughey) races against time to return home to his family even as they work to save mankind back on Earth.
- Release Date
- November 7, 2014
- Runtime
- 169 Minutes