Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the lead actors of ‘The Last Duel’, adapted for the big screen from Eric Jager’s book of the same name published in 2004, stated that there was a scene where they kissed in the script; however, he said that this scene was not included in the film at the last moment.
The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott, who has been in the director’s chair of many famous films, including Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and Gladiator (2000); It takes place in France in the 1300s, during the 100 Years War. The film is about the fierce rivalry between Damon’s character, Sir Jean de Carrouges, and Adam Driver’s character, Jacques Le Gris. Ben Affleck appears as Count Pierre d’Alençon, who doesn’t like Carrouges very much. The script is written by Nicole Holofcener, in addition to Affleck and Damon.
Ridley Scott thought this scene was too distracting
As Affleck and Damon said in an interview that aired on October 10, the kissing scene between the two was cut from the script after director Ridley Scott thought it would be too distracting.
In response to Affleck’s remarks, who stated that everyone, including the two of them, kissed in the original version of the scene, Damon responded, “This would be our first kiss on screen.” Affleck humorously said that fans had to wait for it. Instead of this kissing scene, Scott thought it would be more appropriate for Damon’s character to kneel before Affleck’s character, and the scene was shot that way.
“The two characters really hate each other and that was really fun,” said Damon, who said that during the scene where his character was kneeling, Affleck suddenly interrupted Damon and improvised by saying ‘Come closer’. So after Damon stood up, he moved closer to Affleck and knelt right in front of him again.
Damon and Affleck, who have been close friends for a long time in real life, also stated that the movie is based on real historical events; however, he also underlines that not everything in the movie is historically correct. The Last Duel, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month, will be released on October 15.