Matt Damon Made a Promise to His Wife During Marriage Counseling That He’d Stop Acting — Unless ‘Oppenheimer’ Director Christopher Nolan Called

During an appearance on Entertainment Weekly’s Around the Table, the cast of Oppenheimer spoke about Christopher Nolan‘s unique way of offering them roles: simply by calling them “out of the blue.”

In the interview, Matt Damon revealed he “negotiated extensively” with his wife during couples therapy about taking a break from work unless he got a call from the notable director. And sure enough, Nolan rang.

“This is going to sound made up, but it’s actually true,” he said. “I had — not to get too personal — negotiated extensively with my wife that I was taking time off.”

Damon explained, “I actually negotiated in couples therapy ­— this is a true story — the one caveat to my taking time off was if Chris Nolan called. This is without knowing whether or not he was working on anything, because he never tells you. He just calls you out of the blue. And so, it was a moment in my household.”

Damon said Nolan put him “on ice” after appearing in Interstellar, so he “wasn’t in the rotation.”

It seems that Nolan’s way of working is no industry secret. Nolan and Oppenheimer lead actor Cillian Murphy recently joked about the director’s unique approach to offering roles.

“Chris’ way of operating is that he just calls you out of the blue,” Murphy said. “I genuinely had no idea. He said he was making a movie about Oppenheimer and he said, ‘I’d like you to play Oppenheimer.’ I had to sit down. It was kind of overwhelming.”

“[It’s] a fun way to do it,” the director said, before admitting, “But it means that it’s very difficult to call you to go out to dinner or something. Because every time you answer the phone it’s like, ‘what’s it going to be?‘”

Nolan recruited an epic ensemble cast for his upcoming picture. The film follows American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the father of the atom bomb, who played a pivotal role in developing nuclear weapons for America.

The film also notably stars Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. When Christopher Nolan calls, you answer.

Oppenheimer premieres in theaters Friday (July 21).