Matt Damon admits he had no hesitation playing a “fictional character in the real world” in controversial Iraq War drama ‘Green Zone’.

The new release is based on the non-fiction book, ‘Imperial Life In The Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone’, by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran.

It centres around US army officer Roy Miller, who leads a team hunting for WMDs (weapons of mass destruction).

When several sites turn out to be empty, Miller’s suspicions lead him to question his own superiors.

It’s the third time Damon has worked with British director Paul Greengrass, teaming up again after the movies ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ and ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’.

The film is told through shaky, handheld camera footage and much of the action unfolds in real time.

And Damon had no hesitation playing Miller, who is based on the film’s advisor, chief warrant officer Richard ‘Monty’ Gonzales.

Monty led Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha on the hunt for WMDs in 2003. Damon says: “I didn’t have to be persuaded, it just seemed like such fertile ground to make a film from.”

Matt asked Monty for his experience of hunting WMDs and explains: “Unlike Miller, who says ‘this is the fourth time this has happened’ after coming up empty, Monty said the very first factory they went into, he was sure that something horribly wrong had happened.

“It was listed as a dual use facility, so in other words, it was a porcelain factory but it was hiding the fact that it really was making something else.

“Monty took one look at it and said, ‘nobody could stand inside this building and say it was being used for anything but making porcelain.

“I asked him why are you participating in this experience, what do you want to get out it (the film)?  

“And he said, ‘We’ve lost our moral authority’. I think at some level, that’s the question that everyone’s been asking themselves since 2003.”

The Green Zone is in cinemas across the UAE this weekend.

Matt going in the right direction

Matt Damon admits he is getting a great apprenticeship in directing.

As well as working with Paul Greengrass once again, Damon recently teamed up with Clint Eastwood for ‘Invictus’ and is also in production with the famous Coen Brothers on their remake of the classic Western film, ‘True Grit’.

He says:  “I want to direct someday and I can’t really pass up the chance to work with the people I’m getting to work with. I’ve worked with Paul Greengrass three times now, Clint twice, and Steven Soderbergh five or six times, and the Coen Brothers this month.”