Matt Damon just arrived in Venice to promote his new film, The Informant!, at the city’s annual film festival. It looks like the only questions Matt got at the first press conference were about food and his “doughy physique” for the film. First, some background: The Informant! (yes, the exclamation point is really part of the title) is based on the true story of an agribusiness price-fixing scandal in the mid-West, and the subsequent FBI investigation of the wrong-doings. It sounds like dry stuff, but the film actually looks hilarious. It’s directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderberg and has a supporting cast full of funny oddballs, like Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) and Joel McHale (The Soup).

Matt Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, the vice-president of this price-fixing agri-business (it’s all about corn, by the way). Whitacre is being probed by the FBI, and they turn him into a mole and an informant… pardon me, I mean “an informant!” For the film, Matt put on thirty pounds (at least) and grew himself a God-awful walrus mustache. To his credit, though, Matt always does well with any kind of comedic role, so I suspect he’ll have a Golden Globe for Best Comedic Performance come awards season. Here’s Matt talking about his awesome process for gaining weight:

Matt Damon told today how he binged on junk food to pile on 30 pounds (2st 6lbs) in weight for a new film role.

The 38-year-old Hollywood star told how he would ‘eat everything he could see’ and gorged on McDonald’s meals, Doritos crisps and beer.

Damon was speaking today at the Venice Film Festival launch of his new film The Informant!, which featured a rare outing for his wife Luciana Bozan Barroso.

He said: ‘It was very, very easy to gain the weight. It was very, very fun, probably the funnest time I had working, because I didn’t have to go to the gym after work and I just ate everything I could see.’

The Oscar winner added: ‘I definitely got doughy. I started eating like crazy and drinking dark beer. Between meals on set, I’d eat a No. 1 Value Meal at McDonald’s and then Doritos on top of it. It was absolute heaven.’

However, Damon did say he faced a difficult battle when it came to shifting those extra pounds and was forced to take up boxing to burn extra calories.

He said: ‘If you put it on, it’s easier to get it back off. I’m just boxing. I figure if you get hit enough times, it will fall off! Now I’m the Sexiest Man Alive’s chunky cousin.’

Described as a dark comedy/thriller, The Informant!, which is released in British cinemas on November 20 in the UK, is Damon’s fifth outing with Steven Soderbergh, director of Ocean’s Eleven and Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.

Damon plays bipolar whistleblower Mark Whitacre, an agribusiness executive who helps the FBI crack one of its biggest ever price-fixing cases by amassing reams of evidence.

[From the Daily Mail]

If someone was paying me to gain weight, I would do the same thing as Matt. I would make daily trips to McDonalds and get an epic supply of Doritos… and Fritos. Lots of French fries. Lots of fried chicken. Lots of pasta, too. Pasta with thick cream sauce. And steak and baked potatoes, with lots of butter. Mm… what were we talking about? The Informant! I think it’s funny that Matt describes himself as “the Sexiest Man Alive’s chunky cousin” – Matt didn’t even want to be named People’s Sexiest Man Alive! George Clooney and Brad Pitt had to campaign on his behalf – including one hilarious incident in which Clooney tried to buy a “For Your Consideration” ad in Variety. Matt was finally named Sexiest Man Alive in 2007… But if he keeps up the beer, Doritos and McDonalds, he probably won’t win that honor again. Just as well. He’s the sexiest man alive with a walrus mustache.

Here’s the trailer for The Informant! It’s out in the US on September 18.

Matt Damon and his wife Luciana are shown at the premiere of The Informant! on 9/7/09 and out in Venice. Credit: LAURENT/bauergriffinonline.com