Matt Damon Nearly Starred in ‘Ted’ but ‘I Talked Myself Out of It’: ‘I Don’t Know What I Was Thinking’

Damon confirmed he passed on starring in the 2012 comedy as the foul-mouthed teddy bear’s best friend, John, who was later played by Mark Wahlberg

“I don’t want to live with the regret, but I can tell you that I passed on ‘Ted’ and I’ve never had this experience where I laughed so hard reading a script,” Damon said in an interview with GQ. “I literally took it to dinner and was reading parts of it out to my friends at dinner. And then I just got too clever by half. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was like, ‘Well, maybe the teddy bear’s actually the best part.’”

Even Damon’s Boston roots weren’t enough to convince himself to take the role.

“So I overthought it and I talked myself out of it. And because it shot in Boston, it would’ve been a chance for me to be home — my father’s passed away now, and I look back and I go, ‘Man, that would’ve been six months back [home].’”

Damon may wish he had starred in the hit movie, which spawned a sequel movie and prequel Peacock series, but he approves of how the film turned out.

“But, again, the right actor got the part. Mark [Wahlberg’s] great, and the movie’s great and I wouldn’t have made it any better,” Damon said.

While the actor mourns missing out on the teddy bear comedy, he’s certainly made up for it starring in Christopher Nolan’s box office smash “The Odyssey.” The Greek epic has amassed over $652 million worldwide, is set to return to theaters in the highly coveted Imax 70mm format in December and has cemented Damon as a major contender this Oscar season.