Boston ‘great for the film industry': Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau talk ‘The Instigators' movie

Imagine finding yourself being forced to rob a Brinks truck. That's the predicament Matt Damon (Rory) and Casey Affleck (Cobby) find themselves in in their latest film.

The Instigators is scheduled for release Friday and the duo, alongside Hong Chau (Dr. Donna Rivera), were in Boston for a sit-down interview to talk about the film, their connection to Boston, and of course, Boston sports.

Read lightly edited excerpts from the interview below, and watch the full interview above.

NBC10 Boston: Casey, Living in Boston, it's always surreal when you're watching a movie, seeing a police chase down Storrow Drive, for example. So from your perspective, early on in the writing, was Boston always considered as the destination for this film?

Casey Affleck: Chuck MacLean, who is from Quincy, Mass., started this project. The first draft of the script, and he's a great writer and almost everything is set in Boston. And he really has a good ear for the sound [and] knows the people. I love his take on Boston.

When I came in and took it over and rewrote a whole ton of stuff and made it all worse I was also writing for Boston. Boston has been great for the film industry. Like, there's a million things to shoot here and now the tax incentive is permanent. It's not just the place that we want to come. [Hong Chau] went to BU. We grew up here, but it's a place a lot of people want to come, good crews, and it's a good place to make a movie.

Hong, I know you're not from here, people know you two [Damon and Affleck] for being from here, but you earned a degree in communications from Boston University. How was it for you to be able to come back here to film this movie?

Hong Chau: I met my husband here. He grew up outside of Boston, and it was so great to get to bring our daughter and show her around. Alexander Payne, who we worked with, on Downsizing. He shot The Holdovers here, and speaking of how great the crew is here in Boston, he had so many wonderful compliments for the crew here. He was saying that he would love to shoot here again.

Matt, we're following your character Rory throughout the film, who is on a road to redemption in some ways, but he's unapologetic about it. What did you learn about him and yourself playing that role?

Matt Damon: I just thought it was a really fun opportunity to play a guy who just ends up having to commit a heist and has absolutely no idea what he's doing. Like, he's taking notes at the beginning. He wants to get it right because he only wants to do it once and kind of get everything squared away in his life.

It set up a good kind of comic dynamic with the career criminal who actually just wants to make a friend, you know, and, talks too much and so it just seemed like a really fun, fun thing to do. The moment that his psychiatrist decides to join them. I think it works out great because what Hong is doing is basically going, "The only chance these guys have of surviving this is if I, if I come along and help them." And so she's trying to do therapy the entire time. Like, so, it just it was just a fun dynamic.

Boston has been great for the film industry. There's a million things to shoot here and now the tax incentive is permanent. It's not just the place that we want to come. [Hong Chau] went to BU. We grew up here, but it's a place a lot of people want to come, good crews, and it's a good place to make a movie.

Casey Affleck on filming The Instigators in Boston

You two are hardcore Boston fans, and it's evident throughout the movie that Boston sports are always going to reign supreme. Fenway Park, you have the Bobby Orr reference at one point, but right before the NBA finals, you two were on the record with NBC as well, talking about them getting to the Finals. How did you two celebrate? I don't know if they brainwashed you [Chau] into being a Boston fan as well?

Chau: Oh yeah, Boston sports is on in the house.

Damon: Especially that [Celtics] team -- near impossible not to root for -- they are the best. Like they every single one of them, like the way they play together as a team. Their team defense, the way they get after it, the energy they bring. It's just like, even if you're not from Boston, you got to root for those guys. They're so likable. All those guys and, yeah, I'm just a massive, massive fan.

How did you celebrate? Did you?

Affleck: I celebrated. Yeah, I think I just like, screamed and yelled.

I remember when I watched the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series. I was in a tiny apartment. I had a newborn baby who was sleeping. It was all in one room, like bed TV and my wife, who didn't care at all about it. I was all alone in front of this TV first World Series I'd ever seen. And they won, I was like "ahh!"

She was like, "Shut up!" and the baby's crying.

What would you hope is one of the biggest takeaways for people who are watching this film, especially if they're in the New England area?

Damon: I hope people laugh and I hope they have fun. It's hopefully a big piece of joy to put out into the world and a really fun ride for people to go on and worth your time. That's that's what I hope.