Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Explain Those Wild Last Duel Hairdos

Matt Damon in the trailer for The Last Duel
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

While theaters have been slim pickings for months, things are about to kick into gear at the movie theater. Starting with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, October is stacked with big releases, including the long-anticipated No Time To Die and Dune. Amidst those releases is the upcoming film teaming up Ben Affleck and Matt Damon once more, The Last Duel, and both stars’ hairdos have been focal points after the trailer released. Now, the two have explained their wild looks.

Matt Damon is rocking a mullet in The Last Duel and not just any kind of mullet. Unlike the coiffed and memorable Joe Dirt variety, Damon’s mullet looks roughly hewn and honestly fairly befitting the type of character he plays in the upcoming movie -- a squire with plenty of rough edges. However, if you want to know who had the idea for the look, that would go to none other than director Ridley Scott. Per Damon: 

My character went to war constantly. He wanted to fight. And Ridley liked the idea of the mullet as if I just took a knife and cut the sides of my hair just so I could get my helmet on. That's all I cared about.

I can only imagine what Damon's cheeky daughter might have to say about her dad's hair in the new movie...

Speaking with EW, both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck talked about the hairstyles that have been blowing up since the first The Last Duel trailer dropped online. To note, Affleck is also rocking a look in the film, with bleach blonde hair that wouldn’t have been out of place in an early 2000s music video. The film actually has a 1300s setting, but Affleck’s hair is still striking, blonde, and very unlike what we typically see from the actor while he plays a noble in the period drama. 

The first The Last Duel trailer gives us a look at both actors in the film, as well as the long hair sported by actor Adam Driver. Beyond the mullet, there's plenty of action and some poignant moments with Jodie Comer as well. 

So, Do Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Like Their Wild Last Duel Looks?

As it turns out they didn’t have a choice with how they looked, with Affleck posturing that Ridley Scott thought they needed to look utterly unlike themselves to make the world they were creating work. The director ultimately said to the pair, "This is how your hair's going to look," per the actor, and that was that.

We were sort of shocked. But because he’s such a stunning visual artist and he’s the director you trust him. I hope people don’t walk away from the movie focused on that. But it does serve to help us both feel not like how people generally see us and also a part of this other world. That’s my guess about [Scott’s] intention. But he basically said, ‘This is how your hair’s going to look.'

Ultimately, you'll be able to see how much the hairstyles lend themselves to both Damon and Affleck's characters when The Last Duel officially opens in theaters on October 15. The movie was written by the former Good Will Hunting pair, alongside Nicole Holofcener. Regardless, apparently that didn't give them enough of a say to weigh in on how they'd look.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.