Matt Damon and Alicia Vikandar attend the 'Jason Bourne' Seoul premiere on July 8, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Chung Sung-Jun)
For his "Jason Bourne" role, Matt Damon trained for Filipino martial art Kali, also known as arnis. In a recent interview while promoting the film, the actor was asked about legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao, who is now a senator in the Philippines.
Damon told ABS-CBN News that all he wanted to give Pacquiao is a hug. The "Jason Bourne" star said he did not want to do boxing with the Filipino boxing champ.
While preparing for his "Jason Bourne" role, some martial artists came in, did a demonstration of Kali, and suddently started "doing this thing that was so cool," Damon revealed. The actor described the Filipino martial art as very destructive and very close but economic and it was everything they wanted in the style of his super spy character, which he is reprising for the fifth time.
Directed by Paul Greengrass, "Jason Bourne" is set to hit theaters on July 27. The director co-wrote the screenplay with Christopher Rouse based on the characters created by Robert Ludlum.
"Jason Bourne" also stars Tommy Lee Jones as CIA Director Robert Dewey, Alicia Vikander as Heather Lee, Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons and Riz Ahmed as Aaron Kalloor. Other cast members include Vincent Cassel, Ato Essandoh, Scott Shepherd, Bill Camp, Vinzenz Kiefer, Stephen Kunken, Ben Stylianou, Kaya Yuzuki, Matthew O'Neill, Lizzie Phillips, Paris Stangl, Matt Blair, Amy De Bruhn, Akie Kotabe, Robin Crouch, Joe Kennard and Jay Vincent Diaz.
In 2012, Damon did not join the cast of "The Bourne Legacy." While filming was primarily in New York, some scenes of the fourth installment of the film franchise were filmed in Canada, Pakistan, South Korea and the Philippines.
Several Filipino actors were featured in "The Bourne Legacy" including "Heneral Luna" star John Arcilla, "Fourth World" actress Madeleine Nicolas, "Whistleblower" actor Art Acuña, "On the Job" actor Joel Torre, "Ma' Rosa" actress Ruby Ruiz and "Taklub" actor Lou Veloso. Both "Ma' Rosa" and "Taklub" were directed by Brillante Mendoza and were screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
"The Bourne Legacy" director Tony Gilroy praised the Filipino actors and told Inquirer that they are "an embarrassment of riches." Other Filipino cast members were Antonette Garcia, Sonny Tuazon, Julie Ysla, Normandy Bacaltos, Edgar Letran, Alvin Zalamea, Spencer Sano, Ermie Concepcion and Adrian Talinga.
Watch Damon talk about Paquiao and Kali here:
