Damon: Movies are ‘greatest tool for empathy’

Actor talks about being a part of new film ‘Downsizing’

Matt Damon has worked with more great filmmakers than just about any other actor of his generation. From Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Soderbergh to Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and the Coen Brothers, Damon has always been drawn to projects based on who’s behind the camera.

He continues that tradition with “Downsizing,” the latest from writer/director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor, the same team behind such enduring classics as “Citizen Ruth,” “Election,” “About Schmidt” and “Sideways.”

“To be fair, every actor in the world wants to work with Alexander and I would have done the phone book if he had asked me to,” says Damon, 47. “But I just thought this script was absolutely beautiful, wonderful and unique.”

Damon stars in “Downsizing” as a good-natured occupational therapist who undergoes a procedure that allows him to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife (Kristen Wiig) can simultaneously reduce their carbon footprint and afford a better lifestyle.

The cast also includes Christoph Waltz, Udo Kier, Laura Dern and Jason Sudeikis. Newcomer Hong Chau co-stars in the pivotal role of a Vietnamese prison escapee.

“I think in terms of my role in the bigger picture, I really do believe that movies are the greatest tool for empathy that we have,” says Damon. “And what I love about a lot of these stories that I get to help tell is that they show us relatable characters whose lives are different than our own but with whom we can find common cause.”

Damon is particularly proud of “Downsizing” in this regard.

“Ultimately, I think ‘Downsizing’ is a beautiful and optimistic movie. In fact, a journalist said to me – and I thought that this was really great - he said, ‘this is Alexander’s most optimistic movie and it has the apocalypse in it.’

“So that says a lot about Alexander. But I do think that at the end of the day it’s about this sense that we’re all in this together…and I feel like that is a very hopeful message in this very divided world [we live in].”

An Oscar winner for his screenplay “Good Will Hunting,” Damon is a natural born