--- title: Matt Damon Tell Ellen DeGeneres Gay Actor Comments Not True description: The actor blamed a controversy-hungry blogosphere for misconstruing his comments in a recent interview with the Guardian. canonical: https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-29T15:25:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:21:03.966Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Matt Damon Says Comments About Gay Actors Were Taken Out of Context og:description: "I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery." og:url: https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4a79f9278e8bf6/698865f6cf40a88fb7c3ff5b/matt-damon3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Matt Damon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Matt Damon Says Comments About Gay Actors Were Taken Out of Context twitter:description: "I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4a79f9278e8bf6/698865f6cf40a88fb7c3ff5b/matt-damon3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Matt Damon Says Comments About Gay Actors Were Taken Out of Context > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 29, 2015 3:25 PM UTC  Matt Damon attends the European premiere of "The Martian" at Odeon Leicester Square in London, on Sept. 24, 2015. Matt Damon attends the European premiere of "The Martian" at Odeon Leicester Square in London, on Sept. 24, 2015.Karwai Tang—Getty Images  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 29, 2015 3:25 PM UTC Actor Matt Damon used a visit to Ellen DeGeneneres’s talk show to address his controversial comments on gay actors, saying they were misconstrued by a blogosphere hungry to “click on your thing.” “I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery, right?” Damon told DeGeneres in an _Ellen_ [segment preview](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/28/matt-damon-gay-actors-ellen-interview). “And somebody picked it up and said I said gay actors should get back in the closet. Which is like I mean it’s stupid, but it is painful when things get said that you don’t believe.” DeGeneres, who is openly gay, responded by saying, “I know you and I know you’re not that guy.” She later quipped to audience laughter: “And it shocks me that you and Ben \[Affleck\] are not gay. I mean, if you want to deny it and keep your ‘mystery’ and your ‘marriage’ and your ‘daughters’…” Damon’s comments were widely circulated, suggesting that the actor thought gay actors should not reveal their sexual orientation. “I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that,” [he told the _Guardian_ in a recent interview](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/27/matt-damon-i-think-you-are-a-better-actor-the-less-people-know-about-you) in light of his upcoming film, _The Martian_. “Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality because that’s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.” The interview will air later Tuesday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/"},"headline":"Matt Damon Says Comments About Gay Actors Were Taken Out of Context","datePublished":"2015-09-29T15:25:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:21:03.966Z","description":"\"I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery, right?”","url":"https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/","keywords":["celebrities","movies","LGBT","Matt Damon","Ellen Degeneres","The Ellen Show"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4a79f9278e8bf6/698865f6cf40a88fb7c3ff5b/matt-damon3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4a79f9278e8bf6/698865f6cf40a88fb7c3ff5b/matt-damon3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Matt Damon","caption":"Matt Damon","creditText":"Karwai Tang—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4053706/matt-damon-gay-actor-ellen/","name":"Matt Damon Says Comments About Gay Actors Were Taken Out of Context"}}]}] ```