Jeff Daniels explains how it feels to doom Matt Damon in The Martian

Jeff Daniels has been discussing his work on Ridley Scott’s forthcoming film, The Martian, and sounds in awe of the sheer scale of the production, describing the set’s as nothing short of “phenomenal”.

“It was a chance to work with, in particular, Ridley Scott.” explains Daniels to Deadline. “I just look at that guy as… I didn’t get to work with John Ford but it’s like I imagine that to be. Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, great veteran Hollywood directors. John Huston. Ridley so is on top of it. It’s a big production, Martian. I mean, just the set for Mission Control in Houston was… I just wanted to take pictures of it. It’s just phenomenal.”

“But Ridley’s not intimidated by that at all,” he continues. “He’s going, ‘yeah, it’s good, that’s going to work.’ He’s got cranes, he’s got how many cameras, I mean, the guy completely knows what he’s doing and that’s a joy. I’m one of the heads of NASA and basically, I’m the guy who has to make the decision as to whether we try to save Matt Damon or strand him.”

“I’m certainly the antagonist probably. He’s the guy that’s got to say, ‘do I risk killing however many, eight astronauts, trying to save one, or do I let one die and save the other eight?’” Co-starring Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig, The Martian will open in the UK on September 30, 2015 and the US on October 2, 2015.

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