Matt Damon was determined to capture the excitement of driving a racing car in ‘Le Mans ’66’.
The 49-year-old actor portrays Carroll Shelby in the film, which tells the story about how Shelby and British racing driver Ken Miles, played by Christian Bale, helped Ford beat the all-conquering Ferrari team in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours race.
In an appearance on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ on Monday (11.11.19), Matt said that driving a racing car gives an "indescribable" feeling and he hope cinema goers will get a taste of that from watching the movie.
He said: "It’s indescribable … You have to feel it to understand. And I think in (Le Mans ’66) we try to give you that feeling … to feel like you are in those cars going at those speeds, it’s really, really exciting."
Damon, 49, also opened up about the dangers Shelby and Miles faced competing in the endurance race during the 1960s due to the technical capabilities of the cars in that decade compared to now.
He explained: "It’s about their friendship and this crazy thing they tried to do in beating Ferrari in 1966. It’s a 24-hour race that still goes on every year, but it’s not on a racetrack, it’s on country roads that aren’t built to be raced on. So, it’s this incredible test of endurance. Two drivers man one car and they take turns and Ferrari was just dominant.
"But it was incredibly dangerous. At this time in 1966, the weakest part of the whole car was the brakes. So, these guys would be going 230 miles an hour … not knowing if they could stop. And a lot of people died doing this."
Meanwhile, Damon’s co-star Christian Bale revealed that had to lose weight for the role as he couldn’t fit into the cars.
He said: "I had to get in the car. I could not bloody … these things are not made for comfort, these cars. They’re tight. So, I couldn’t bloody get in them. That would have been a whole different film."
Matt Damon’s thrill goal for Le Mans ’66
