The unlikely lads

Childhood friends Matt Damon and Casey Affleck join forces in an action comedy about a heist that goes wrong

- SEAN MARLAND

Casey Affleck and Matt Damon have been close friends ever since their childhoods in Boston, and have worked together on a string of Oscar-winning projects – from 1998’s Good Will Hunting, also starring Affleck’s older brother Ben, to 2023’s Oppenheimer.

This week, the pals reunite to play a pair of hapless thieves who go on the run in Apple TV+’s action comedy The Instigators.

Set in Boston, the film follows the fortunes of Rory (Damon), a cash-strapped ex-Marine who’s desperate to reconnect with his son, and Cobby (Affleck), a struggling ex-con.

The strangers team up to steal the ill-gotten funds of corrupt politician Mayor Miccelli (Ron Perlman) during an election-night party. However, when the robbery goes wrong, Rory and Cobby are forced to flee, taking Rory’s therapist Dr Donna Rivera (The Whale’s Hong Chau) with them for good measure as police, crime bosses and city officials pursue them.

With a cast including Toby Jones, the film is directed by Doug Liman, who previously worked with Damon on action movie The Bourne Identity.

Here, in our exclusive interview, Affleck, 48, tells us more…