--- description: Matt Damon punked random people into carrying out his spy tasks, which he assigned through a cell phone. title: Watch Matt Damon Prank Random People Into Accepting a ‘Spy Mission’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Matt Damon Prank Unsuspecting People Into Accepting a ‘Spy Mission’ by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 29, 2016 7:13 PM CUT by [Ashley Hoffman](/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 29, 2016 7:13 PM CUT _Jason Bourne_ actor [Matt Damon](http://time.com/4162254/cost-of-rescuing-matt-damon/ "undefined") punked random people into carrying out a bunch of entry-level spy tasks, which he assigned through a cell phone. “We set up a simulation to give unsuspecting people the chance to feel like they’re in a spy movie,” the actor explained in a video. He pulled the stunt to promote his upcoming movie [_Jason Bourne_](http://time.com/4357029/matt-damon-mit-commencement/ "undefined"), which stars Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, and Tommy Lee, and to raise money for [Water.org](http://water.org/ "undefined"). Even though he kept laughing, the [actor](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/09/late-night-laughs-the-5-best-comedy-clips-of-the-week-66/slide/jimmy-kimmel-mocks-matt-damon/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") still got four strangers to follow his every command from saying code words to complimenting cute kids. None of them seemed to have a clue it was Damon on the other line, but they were all over the mission anyway. He even made a pork-intolerant man hold a hot dog for the good cause, and the guy nailed it. Thanks to Damon’s legit spy lingo — “that manila envelope’s the hottest potato you’ve ever held in your hand,” and “believe me, it’s not about the hot dog. You’re not going to eat the hot dog, and the hot dog isn’t even real. It’s what’s in the hot dog” — it’s all extremely watchable for a prank video. (All the participants meet Damon and win tickets to the premiere of the new _Bourne_ flick, but following his instructions was the true thrill of a lifetime.) Watch the shenanigans and learn how to enter for a chance to meet Matt Damon at the _Bourne_ premiere in July below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4387856/matt-damon-jason-bourne-prank-spy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4387856/matt-damon-jason-bourne-prank-spy/"},"headline":"Watch Matt Damon Prank Unsuspecting People Into Accepting a ‘Spy Mission’","datePublished":"2016-06-29T19:13:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:54.868Z","description":"\"That manila envelope’s the hottest potato you’ve ever held in your hand.\"","url":"https://time.com/4387856/matt-damon-jason-bourne-prank-spy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities","Matt Damon"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4387856/matt-damon-jason-bourne-prank-spy/","name":"Watch Matt Damon Prank Unsuspecting People Into Accepting a ‘Spy Mission’"}}]}] ```