Matt Damon's Wife Had Brain Surgery One Week Before the Oscars

Luciana Damon had brain surgery one week before the 96th Academy Awards, her husband Matt Damon has revealed in a GQ cover story. The ceremony, held in March 2024, was the night "Oppenheimer" won best picture, best director for Christopher Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. The Damons skipped it. Damon stars in the film.

His wife's aneurysm, which occurred in early 2024, kept the couple home. But not entirely. "She's totally fine, thank God," Damon told GQ. "But [she] had this brain surgery the week before the Oscars. But it was the first night she felt good enough to get up and had her energy back. And she surprised me and got a dress and we went out to the after-party."

The reason was guilt, of a very specific vintage.

Why did the Damons miss two best-picture wins?

In 2007, when "The Departed" won best picture, Damon was shooting second unit for "The Bourne Ultimatum" in Miami, with an infant at home. He and Luciana watched from bed.

"I was jumping up and down in the bedroom and I remember being really excited," Damon said. "And then the next category was best picture, and 'The Departed' won. And I realized in that moment I hadn't even considered that that could happen. And I turned to Lucy and I was like, 'Shit, we should be there!'"

The aftermath was less charming. "I got all these calls from all the cast and the studio, like, 'Hey, where were you, man?' I totally blew it," he said.

Seventeen years later, Luciana made sure history didn't repeat. "She remembered that the last time it happened, I didn't do it. And she was like, 'This time we're going out,'" Damon recalled. "And it was pretty fucking heroic of her to do that and really meaningful."

Does Damon mind the snubs?

Damon was not nominated for supporting actor for either "The Departed" or "Oppenheimer." He says he doesn't mind.

"It's not something you can control. You got to just do the work, and that's got to be the reward," he told GQ. "Because it's like, then if you don't win, do you feel bad about something that was really positive? Don't turn this into something bad."

He has a structural objection, too. "The real way they should do them, really, is 20 or 25 years later. You'll have a really good idea of which movies really endured and really still matter to you. There can be hype in the moment, or it can be a zeitgeist thing, but it doesn't hold up."

His benchmark is "Good Will Hunting," released in 1997. "People come up [to me] about 'Good Will Hunting' and I realize they weren't born when the movie came out," he said. "It's just very cool for Ben and me to have a new generation of people actually see it."

What's next for Damon?

The actor will be back in awards season regardless, with Christopher Nolan's record-breaking blockbuster "The Odyssey." GQ reports he is widely expected to land a best actor nomination, and some view him as the frontrunner to win. The same projections apply to Nolan for best director and to the film for best picture. Luciana, presumably, has already picked out a dress.