Oscar-Nominated Hong Chau Joins Apple Film 'The Instigators' with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck

by Darian Scalamoni

    We had previously reported the exciting news that Matt Damon and Casey Affleck would be reuniting for The Instigators over at Apple back in December. Now, we have news of who else is joining the film, as Deadline reports that Hong Chau (The Whale, Downsizing) will board the cast that will be produced by Damon and Ben Affleck's newly formed Artists Equity production company.

    The Instigators follows Affleck and Damon as two thieves who must go on the run with help from one of their therapists after a robbery goes horribly wrong. We speculate that Chau will play the therapist who gets kidnapped by Affleck and Damon's characters in the Apple Original Films project which is directed by Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Swingers). Chau is a great choice for this role as she's quickly becoming one of the most unique actresses whose coming out party was back in 2017 alongside Damon for Alexander Payne's Downsizing. I first became aware of her for her intriguing role in HBO's Watchmen in 2019.

    Chau has had a massive run since last year, first starring in The Menu before earning her first Academy Award nomination for her role in The Whale as Brendan Fraser's best friend and caretaker. She also appeared in an episode of Peacock's popular anthology series Poker Face to start her 2023. She'll next appear in Netflix's action-drama series The Night Agent before working with starry directors Wes Anderson for Asteroid City and Yorgos Lanthimos for AND.