Matt Damon 'addicted' to reading political news

Matt Damon is "addicted" to reading political news in the wake of recent events in the United States.

The Jason Bourne actor is currently promoting Suburbicon, a crime-drama about a deceptively peaceful community, and is gearing up to start shooting Robert F. Kennedy biopic RFK.

In addition to his movie work, Damon claims to be consumed by following world news, especially in the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Virginia whereby a car barrelled into a crowd of counter-protesters marching against a white nationalist rally, killing one woman and injuring 19.

"I've been addicted to refreshing my newsfeed every seven minutes, so I'm reading a tonne every day: I have The Atlantic, The New York Times, The New Yorker," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "I've got my list of newspapers and magazines; articles are just landing on my phone and I just sit down and read. But it's all politics, so I'm not sitting down and reading great biographies."

Suburbicon is due to screen at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday (02Sep17), and Damon notes that the film's premise has become more topical since the events in Charlottesville. Directed by George Clooney, the movie is set in the late '50s and focuses on Damon's character Gardner Lodge as he navigates a small town's dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit and violence.

"We made the movie last year and it's incredible to see what's happened in Charlottesville. It's horrible. A lot of people, myself included, are really waking up to the extent of the existing racism, and it's so much worse than I naively thought... Sadly, I feel the movie was made at the right time," the star shared.

Damon has also taken on producing gigs on films within the Jason Bourne franchise, as well as Oscar nominee Manchester by the Sea, but the 46-year-old feels a little surprised that he hasn't yet had a go at directing.

"I don't have any plans right now to direct anything," he explained. "I don't regret not directing any of the things I haven't directed. But we'll see. I would have thought I'd have directed by now."

Damon's other film, Downsizing, opened the Italian film festival earlier this week.