Matt Damon likes being part of a crowd

'Ocean's Eleven' actor catches wave of fun

Matt Damon journeyed to Turkey to entertain troops with a special showing of "Ocean's Eleven."

By Alesia Stanford
Special to CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Matt Damon spent the opening weekend of "Ocean's Eleven" with fellow members of the cast entertaining U.S. troops in Turkey -- meeting, greeting and treating military men and women, and their families, to a screening of the crime caper.

It's a long way from the glittery streets of Las Vegas, Nevada, where the "Ocean's Eleven" actors plied their trade while making the movie.

The trip to Turkey -- which Damon, 30, made with co-stars George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Andy Garcia, as well as director Steven Soderbergh and producer Jerry Weintraub -- was well worth it, said Damon. But then, making "Ocean's" wasn't much of a roll of the dice, either. Besides the all-star cast -- including Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner -- there was the opportunity to work with Oscar-winning director Soderbergh, said Damon.

MORE STORIES • 'Ocean's 11' actors to visit troops in Turkey  • Review: 'Ocean's Eleven' a cool, snappy splash    VIDEO Correspondent Alesia Stanford talked with Matt Damon about his role in 'Ocean's 11' Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"Steven was incredible, and to be able to do that with a script this good -- (and) with a cast this good -- it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. "I hoped they'd find some piece of material that would be this much fun to do."

In the ensemble piece, Damon plays Linus, a small-time Chicago pickpocket who gets a shot at the big time. He's a little leery of taking Clooney's Danny Ocean character up on his invitation to join a major league heist, but sees it as an opportunity to make his father proud.

Being prepared

Although he's got an Oscar to his credit (for co-writing "Good Will Hunting"), Damon admits to being a little nervous about signing on to co-star with fellow Academy Award winner Roberts and big-screen hunks Clooney and Pitt.

Damon's biggest fear was blowing his lines.

His biggest fear, he said, was blowing his lines.

"No one wanted to be the guy who missed his line, so we were all very prepared when it came time to shoot," he said.

Concerned about egos, Damon also did a little research about his co-stars before reporting for work. He talked to the crew members who had worked with the actors to get the scoop on everyone. The crew members gave all the stars high ratings.

"Their reputations all preceded them, so I wasn't worried about that," he said.

Beautiful people?

Perhaps he should have been worried about Clooney, however. The former "ER" star, who's become a big-screen name with "Out of Sight" and "The Perfect Storm," has a reputation for practical jokes.

For his latest effort, Clooney has drafted Pitt. The pair is lobbying to have Damon win the coveted (or not-so-coveted) title of People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."

Clooney's held the title once, Pitt twice. If Damon, a current dark horse in that particular race according to magazine reps, were to make it to the cover, he would once again be in good company.