Matt Damon and David Letterman made brief, uncredited appearances as background actors in the fourth-season premiere of HBO’s The Gilded Age. Wearing 19th-century coats and hats, the pair can be seen crossing the street outside George Russell’s home roughly eight minutes into the episode.
The cameo fulfilled a longtime ambition for Letterman, according to comments from My Next Guest Needs No Introduction showrunner Isabel Richardson and The Gilded Age executive producer Kate Churchill in an interview with Vulture. Letterman became interested in appearing as a background actor after noticing his friend, comedian Gary Mule Deer, in the background of Annie Hall during the 1970s.
Richardson said Letterman had nearly appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme and Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, but scheduling problems prevented both opportunities. He also visited the set of the Jason Bateman series Black Rabbit, although he was unable to get into a filmed scene.
The opportunity finally came together after the research team for My Next Guest Needs No Introduction contacted Damon for a future episode. Damon had begun his acting career as a background extra, and agreed to appear alongside Letterman when the project was proposed.
Churchill described Letterman as particularly enthusiastic on set and said the collaboration required coordination between the productions’ studios. Letterman’s beard also made the makeup and wardrobe process relatively straightforward. Damon, however, needed a period-appropriate mustache after shaving the beard he had grown for The Odyssey.
The Gilded Age is set among New York City’s high society in the 1880s and stars Carrie Coon and Christine Baranski as rival matriarchs Bertha Russell and Agnes van Rhijn. The series’ third season received eight Emmy nominations across the major and Creative Arts categories, including recognition for Coon and for the season finale’s direction.
The seventh season of Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction is scheduled to premiere later this year on Netflix. Its announced guests include Damon, Julia Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel and rock climber Alex Honnold.
Sources: Rolling Stone.