Matt Damon Calls ‘Stillwater’ Research ‘Eye-Opening’ on MAGA Culture

Matt Damon says the research for his role in “Stillwater” — in which he plays an oil-rig worker — was a major wake-up call on red-state culture … something that could well earn him an Academy Award.

The actor recently dished on what went into learning about his character for the Oscar bait-y flick — which got rave reviews and even a standing O at the Cannes Film Festival the other day — and he says what he gleaned from the roughnecks of Oklahoma was “eye-opening.”

Watch how Matt characterized the experience during a panel Q&A following the screening of his upcoming movie in France. He explains how he and director Tom McCarthy spent a good amount of time down in the South … where they got the lay of the land, literally, from guys who do the job day in and day out — getting a sense of their lifestyles, their POVs on life/family and, of course, their politics as well … which Matt didn’t discuss with disdain.

If anything … he’s got the opposite sentiment, saying the people he was around — not to mention his character, Bill — own who and what they are … even on the issue of MAGA.

It’s a pretty fascinating take on what many may perhaps write off without a second thought — the minute you bring up Trump and his supporters … a lot of folks will tune it all out.

Not Matt, though … the way he talks about his encounters down there makes it seem like there’s some good people around — regardless of their politics — and that they’re more nuanced than how they’re made out to be a lot of the time. To which we say … obviously.

BTW, this film isn’t necessarily a slice-of-Oklahoma-life type of a project — where Matt immerses himself in method acting or anything. It’s actually an action thriller — a la, “Taken” — with the oil-rig/middle America stuff as the backdrop. Still … word is, Matt’s turn here is getting tons of buzz, as they’re saying he’s “unrecognizable” on screen.