Ben Affleck & Matt Damon on Easy Decision to Team with Cillian Murphy (Exclusive)

Oscar winners Cillian Murphy, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon spoke to “Extra’s” Terri Seymour about “Small Things Like These,” their new film adaptation of the Claire Keegan novel. 

Ben and Matt financed the film through their company Artists Equity, and Ben shared, “What we did at Artists Equity was finance the movie… Cillian produced it with Alan [Moloney] put it together and they took what we had to offer and support and went and made the movie. The beauty, excellence, and magnificence of the movie is wholly a result of their work. We are really proud to be sitting here with you because they did such a great job we’re trying to take as much credit as possible.”

Matt joked, “We are studio heads now, that’s what studios do.”

Damon worked with Cillian on “Oppenheimer,” and said, “We were just getting Artist Equity off the ground, I asked him if he had anything and he says… ‘I happen to have this really wonderful script…’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, this is exactly what we are looking for.’ I read the script and immediately sent it to Ben… It was a very embarrassingly easy decision for us to finance this film… We all knew each other, and we know the quality of work these people do.”

Cillian said of working with Artists Equity, “It is artists talking to artists… For our production company, for that to be the first one out… it couldn’t have been better, really. They were the best partners. We’re so happy with the result of the film.”

Based on the best-selling book and the real-life story, the film takes place in 1985 and examines deep secrets in a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic church and the corruption involving women in a local convent. Cillian plays the man who uncovers it all.

Murphy told Terri, “It’s a very, very simple story on paper but actually, it’s incredibly complex. And I think it’s very peculiar to Ireland in one way, yet it’s resonating with people wherever they’re from.”

Terri asked Ben if he was familiar with this terrible time in history before Matt brought him the script.

Affleck explained, “I grew up in Boston with Matt, and in Boston you’ll have a lot of people who will look you right in the face and say, ‘I’m Irish,’ although they’ve never been to Ireland, and sound like Matt and I, but couldn’t find Ireland on a map… So, we got a kind of filtered version of what was going on in Ireland… Not being Irish, I can’t say, but my suspicion is that it would be very different from what you might have heard or know about having the experience of living there for example during the troubles.”

Terri asked Matt if this is the type of movie they plan to make with Artists Equity moving forward.

He replied, “Yes, absolutely. And yeah, in the ’90s there would’ve been a number of films of this scale… There would’ve been a number of these every year, and they’ve been decreasing, obviously, over the years… The only way to remedy that is to make these films and to put them in theaters and for moviegoers to go support them… I think people might not be aware of how much power they have as moviegoers… If people go and see it, we can make more of them.”

Cillian also dished on filming the “Peaky Blinders” movie with new addition Barry Keoghan. He shared, “Going really well… We got an amazing cast… I really feel like this is one for the fans. This is really what I’m trying to achieve with this one.”

Plus, Ben and Matt are working together again, starring in a Netflix crime thriller called “RIP.”

Matt said, “Well, we’re in the middle of it. That’s why we’re bearded.”

Ben joked, “Yes, everything you need to know you can see right here.”

Ben revealed “RIP” will be out “next year or maybe end of year.”