There are a LOT of words on this cover. And with all those distractions, it’s to Matt Damon’s credit that he is the only place I am looking.

I love this cover. He is… dishy. I have no idea what he’s like in his actual life, but he was exceedingly gracious to me at Fashion Week once when I was interviewing him at a Naeem Khan show, which is a situation in which far smaller-scale celebrities have refused any interviews and yet he happily — or at least COMPLETELY congenially — let me squat down in front of him and call him a Noted Womenswear Enthusiast. And this does a majestic job of celebrating his youthful hotness while also teasing up the hints of Silver Fox poking through in that hair. I do really wish they’d left “The Boy With The Toy Gun” line off and just teased the Tamir Rice story with the part in red, because the words “The Boy With The Toy Gun” next to the winsome, grinning face of a man who plays a rogue spy in the movies leaves a very strange wrong impression. The juxtaposition inadvertently trivializes what’s actually a very important piece.

As for “Classic Matt Damon,” though, if it’s a serious Matt that you covet, GQ has you covered.

Matt Damon GQ #1

Handing this franchise over to Jeremy Renner didn’t work. If James Bond is too inflexible, I’d love it if they managed to hand Bourne over to a woman. Wouldn’t Emily Blunt kill it? Or Naomie Harris, if she’ll jump ship from the other franchise?

The story itself is full of quotes from people who’ve worked with Matt – Intern George, Tina Fey, Affleck — but this anecdote of his is my absolute favorite and it makes me miss Prince so much:

Julia Stiles (co-star, ‘Bourne’ films): “After The Bourne Ultimatum came out, there was a premiere in London. Prince actually came to it, then got tickets for the cast to come see him [perform]. We were summoned into a room, to meet him [after the show]. Matt said, ‘So you live in Minnesota? I hear you live in Minnesota.’”

Damon: “Prince said, ‘I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon.’”

I am going to use the line until the end of time. The whole thing. Like, someone at my kids’ school will ask where we live in Los Angeles, and my answer will be, “I live inside my own heart.” I might even add, “Matt Damon.” It’s so perfect. Come back to us, Prince.

[Photo: GQ/Sebastian Kim]

Tags: GQ, Matt Damon
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