Matt Damon flew daughter's school class to South Africa during Invictus shoot

Actor Matt Damon once flew his daughter's entire school class to South Africa to avoid breaking his own vow to never spend more than two weeks away from his wife and kids.

The Bourne Identity star reveals he faced a big dilemma in 2009 when he was offered the lead in Clint Eastwood's sports biopic Invictus, starring opposite Morgan Freeman as former South African president Nelson Mandela, because the shoot required him to commit to seven weeks on location.

But Damon and his spouse, Luciana, managed to come up with a compromise, which involved an all-expenses-paid long-haul school trip for their little girl and her lucky classmates.

He explains, "We actually flew my daughter's third grade class to South Africa. It was either that or don't do the movie, so I figured, 'Well, if I spend most of the money I'm gonna make on this movie, I'm still gonna wind up ahead...'

"But it was great for the kids because I told the school six months in advance and they did a whole mini-course on Mandela... They didn't get to meet him but they went to Robben Island, where he was imprisoned."