2025 is going to be a big year for both Matt Damon and David Beckham. Beckham’s Inter Miami is set to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup, and Damon is about to begin filming Christopher Nolan’s next film, based on an epic by the greek poet Homer.
“I literally have an odyssey in front of me,” says Damon, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in a joint interview with Beckham last month.
But first, Beckham and Damon have another big project, one that will make its TV debut at the Super Bowl on Feb. 9: A commercial for the Anheuser-Busch beer brand Stella Artois.
The premise? Beckham learns that his parents actually had twins, but left the other child (“other David,” as his father says in the spot) back in the U.S. Beckham travels to a typical suburb where he meets “Dave Beckham,” played by Damon, and learns that they share quite a few things in common, including some talented footwork, and a love of Stella.
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“When we first started my relationship with Stella, we always talked about big ideas and big campaigns and doing things that was surprising and interesting and funny,” Beckham says. “So as soon as they pitched this to me and said exactly what the spot was going to be, and then who was directing it, and then who the other David was going to be. I mean, I loved it from the moment we started talking about it.”
As Beckham alluded to, the commercial was directed by Ben Affleck, and produced through Artists Equity, the production company he co-founded with Damon.
“He’s terrible,” Damon jokes, when asked how Affleck is as a director. “Obviously, I grew up with him, so these things take on the feeling of like you’re just in your backyard and one of you has a camera, and you’re messing around. But as David pointed out, you look around and you’ve got a world class cinematographer [the spot was filmed by Academy Award winner Bob Richardson] and the best crew… So things run incredibly professionally, even though you wouldn’t be able to tell it from looking at the actors.”
“I’m not an actor, so I need guidance, I need help. And both of them gave me everything that I needed to try and be my best self in something like this,” Beckham says of the experience.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but you crushed it, man,” Damon replied to Beckham, complimenting on his ability to improvise. “The way Ben shoots, it’s pretty loose in the sense that there’s a script and a structure, and we know what we’re doing, but there’s a lot of ad-libbing, there’s a lot of improvisation. He’s yelling out lines, we’re trying stuff out, trying to keep a straight face and so you have to be somewhat nimble.”
The spot is in some ways a traditional Super Bowl ad, with big stars, and a twist (the reveal of Damon as Beckham’s twin), but as Damon notes, it also takes a big risk: Aside from a brief appearance at the beginning of the ad, Stella isn’t featured until 45 seconds in.
“It doesn’t operate the way that normal commercials operate, which we feel is part of the fun,” Damon says. “It’s really about this story, so Stella had to take the leap with us and say, ‘okay, I think people will invest in this kind of silly story about these brothers, because what’s underneath it is about connection and these guys experiencing these moments together. But it takes a minute to get there.”
And that story will continue beyond the Big Game, with Stella planning to continue its “For Moments Worth More” campaign through the year.
“We wanted it to work on a number of levels. I’s supposed to be really about the connection between the brothers, because this whole idea of ‘Moments Worth More’ is what the whole campaign is centered around,” Damon says. “The campaign itself just follows that relationship and builds on it like a story, as they get into these various adventures together, and as these estranged brothers get to know each other. But we also want it to be entertaining and fun for everybody, so you’re kind of looking forward to the next little episode that comes along.”
“The important thing is that people can relate to it, and I’m not saying they can relate to finding that they’ve got a twin brother,” Beckham adds. “It’s relating to it in that, we’re sat there on the sofa watching football, or we’re drinking a beer, or we’re all sat around the table having Christmas dinner and talking about our presents that we probably don’t love. So it’s all about those kind of moments.
We were belly laughing, you’ve got Ben behind the camera, and all you can see is his shoulders going up and down laughing,” Beckham adds. “So we know we think it’s funny, let’s hope everyone else does too.”
English (US) ·