Matt Damon & Marlon Wayans Say Ben Affleck Got 'Soaked' In Sweat For A Key Scene In 'Air'

Matt Damon and Marlon Wayans say Ben Affleck was a "serious" leader on the set of their Nike movie Air, and the actor-director brought a Michael Jordan level of intensity to one scene in particular.

"I knew he was a great director, so that news wasn't surprising to me," Damon told Narcity in a recent interview for the film. He added that directing was a "natural progression" for Affleck, and "when I act opposite him, he gives me notes anyway."

"It felt very natural to be directed by (Ben)," Damon said. "Boy, he is really good at it."

Damon stars in Air as Sonny Vaccaro, a Nike basketball scout with a gambling habit who wants to bet Nike’s future on a rookie named Michael Jordan in 1984. The movie follows Sonny’s efforts to get everyone, including his boss Phil Knight (Affleck), on board with a plan to create an Air Jordan shoe line that ends up changing sports apparel forever.

Marlon Wayans, who plays former U.S. Olympic coach George Raveling in the movie, says he was also impressed by Affleck's dedication to getting the right shot in his scene with Damon.

"As an actor's director he was really good," Wayans told Narcity. "But I'll tell you what messed me up: When he actually picked up a 90-pound camera and held it."

Wayans says Affleck was trying to get the right shot during a "long take" that went on for about eight minutes, and yet Affleck hung in there with the camera the whole time in sweltering-hot conditions.

"I look over and Ben's just sweating, and he has sweat on his chest," Wayans recalled. "I was like, 'This dude's serious.'"

Damon added that it was the "middle of summer" when they shot that scene and it was super hot in the bar where they did it because they had the air conditioners turned off to minimize the noise.

"It was cooking in this thing, and Ben's trying to shoot the scene, and he's like 'OK, start again!'" Damon recalled. "And so Marlon and I are doing a bunch of them on repeat, and by the end of it Ben was just soaking wet."

Wayans and Damon both added that it was a thrill to be in the movie because it meant working with stars such as Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Chris Messina — in addition to Affleck.

"It's the '92 Bulls," said Wayans, comparing the cast to the Jordan-era Chicago team.

Much of the movie involves Damon working with the rest of the cast, and he compared it to facing off with boxer Muhammad Ali every day at work. "I had a great heavyweight across from me, no matter what day it was, it was unbelievable," he said.

Affleck and Damon have acted together in various projects over the years, but Air marks the first time one has directed the other. It's also the first movie out of their new production company, Artists Equity, which aims to tell original stories while giving its cast and crew a bigger slice of the earnings than you'd typically see in Hollywood.

Why Ben Affleck Made 'Air' with Chris Tucker and Ben Affleck.Narcity | Youtube

Affleck recently told Narcity that these are the kinds of movies he loves, and he enjoys the experience more because he gets to focus on the actors and the "magic" of their performances.

You can watch Air and its "92 Bulls" lineup of actors in theatres everywhere on April 5.