Matt Damon on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Death Scene in “Contagion”

In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Matt Damon talked about his latest film, apocalyptic thriller Contagion, and how one of his favorite scenes came to life.

“We have such a great cast, but I don’t work with most of them,” said Damon of the ensemble cast of stars, composed of himself, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard. “When I read (writer Scott Z. Burns’) script, (director Steven Soderbergh) didn’t tell me at first which role he wanted me for, and all the three male leads were all great. So I just said, ‘I’ll do whatever you want.’”

In Contagion, which premiered September 3, Damon plays a man whose wife (Paltrow) and stepson die from an unknown viral disease. He and his daughter try to survive as the deadly virus makes its way across the globe and the world’s top doctors search for a cure.  

“I didn’t know how to do that scene at first, because that’s a very common scene, when you’re given that kind of horrible information at the hospital, and everyone does it the same way,” Damon recalled. “But then we talked to an emergency room doctor who delivers that kind of news, and apparently, that reaction of not being able to comprehend the info you were just given is just as common as becoming a mess… So we did an on-the-spot rewrite there.”