Matt Damon returned to MIT, but this time he wasn’t mopping the floors. The 45-year-old actor delivered his first-ever commencement address for MIT’s class of 2016 Friday, and wasted no time in slamming GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
To do that Damon got pretty trippy, citing what he says is a real scientific theory that we all might just be living in a simulated reality created by more intelligent forms of life in the universe.
His question: “How come we have to be in the reality that Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee for president — can we transfer to a different one?”
No doubt Trump will respond.
But then Damon got more serious, saying that whether or not this world is real or imagined, there are lots of issues MIT grads must tackle.
“This world has some problems that we need you to drop everything and solve,” he said. “So go ahead take your pick from the world’s worst buffet: economic inequality that’s a problem, how about the refugee crisis, massive global insecurity, climate change, pandemics, institutional racism …”
Damon was also self deprecating, telling the audience that he didn’t deserve to be standing in front of such brilliant minds since he dropped out of Harvard University to pursue acting. His most recent movie “The Martian,” directed by Ridley Scott, grossed over $600 million worldwide in 2015.
Damon, who is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, famously won an Oscar for his role in the 1997 hit “Good Will Hunting,” in which he played an MIT janitor who also happened to be a mathematical genius.
Damon wrote the first draft of “Good Will Hunting” with his childhood friend, Ben Affleck, when Matt was at Harvard. They both won an Academy Award in 1998.
Damon went on to star in a slew of Hollywood blockbusters: “The Departed,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” and of course, “Ocean’s 11,” and its sequels.
This is MIT’s 139th commencement, and Damon will be the first Hollywood star to give the address in 17 years.
