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Matt Damon has revealed he slimmed down so much for a film role it could have killed him.
The Contagion star was told to lose weight for his part in the 1996 army movie Courage Under Fire, which also starred Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan.
Matt, 41, told The Sun: "I got jobs at 18 on films like Mystic Pizza, with just one line. It got me nowhere. By the time I got a part in Courage Under Fire, a desperation was setting in.
"I had to be thin and went on an unsupervised diet which could have killed me. A doctor told me later I could have shrunk my heart permanently.
"I am 5ft 11in and went down to 9st 9lb from my usual weight, between 12st 5lb and 12st 8lb. It didn't do me any good."
The actor, who went on to become one of the highest grossing actors of all time, said wife Luciana Barroso helps him cope with life in the movie business.
"When I met Luciana, who was working at a bar in Miami, it was a big change. We joked I was with a civilian, not an actress. It was like having a fresh pair of eyes looking at my life. She saw things I didn't see any more, like how people treat you differently," he explained.
"She would say: 'That was weird'. And it reminded me that my life is weird. It was the start of a great relationship."
