Amanda Peet Shares the Unsettling Message Matt Damon Gave Her Minutes Before She Went On Stage for Off-Broadway Play

Amanda Peet is sharing a funny memory of her Syriana co-star Matt Damon

NEED TO KNOW

• Peet recently recounted begging Damon not to tell her if he planned to attend her Off-Broadway play because she gets nervous performing for people she knows

• Minutes before curtain, she found out Damon was in the audience

Amanda Peetis recalling the hilarious — and slightly terrifying — momentMatt Damonsurprised her before a live theater performance after she specifically asked him not to.

Speaking during a recentcareer retrospective at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Peet, 54, reflected on starring in the 2005 Off-Broadway premiere ofThis Is How It Goesalongside Ben Stiller and Jeffrey Wright, which premiered at The Public Theater in New York City.

Peet explained that she had just six days to learn the play before performances began and was also juggling reshoots for the 2005 filmSyriana, which co-starred Damon, 55.

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“So, like two weeks later, we had to do a re-shoot onSyriana,” Peet recalled. “And okay, fine. I had a crush on Matt Damon. Like, who doesn’t?”

During filming, Damon casually asked what she had been working on lately, prompting Peet to mention the play.

“He’s like, ‘What have you been up to?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘Nothing. I just — I just — I’m in a play at The Public.’ ”

She continued: “And he’s like, ‘Oh my god, that’s right next door to my house. I’ll come.' "

“And I was like, ‘Oh, wait. But don’t come. If you’re going to come, don’t tell me when you’re coming because I can’t know when people come,’ ” she recounted. “It’s really a very serious thing. I can never know.”

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Peet said she then made Damon promise not to warn her in advance if he planned to attend.

“I was like, ‘Promise me, because it’s not funny,’ ” she said. "And he was like, ‘No, no, no, no. I get it. I mean, I’m an actor. I get it.' "

But a few days later, things took a turn.

“Couple days later, I’m in my dressing room,” Peet said. “I get 10 minutes to curtain, open the door, someone hands me an envelope.”

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Inside was a handwritten note on Damon’s personal stationery.

“I pull it out. Matt Damon stationery: 'I will be silently judging you.’ ”

The message immediately sent Peet into a panic before curtain.

“But of course, you know how that performance went,” she joked. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, Matt Damon. Matt Damon’s here. Matt Damon’s here. Matt Damon’s here. Matt’s here.’ ”

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