The 47-year-old actor was honored with the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film at the 2017 BAFTA Britannia Awards on Friday.
Family comes first for Matt Damon.
The 47-year-old actor was honored with the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film at the 2017 BAFTA Britannia Awards on Friday, but was unable to attend the event due to a "family emergency."
Kate Mara, who delivered a touching speech about Damon before accepting the award on his behalf, revealed that Damon had to travel back to his hometown of Boston "urgently."
"Unfortunately Matt has urgently needed to travel to Boston and couldn't join us tonight. As much as we wish he was here with us, we know family comes first. So our thoughts are with you, Matt, and much love from your friends here in LA," she said, before a pre-recorded message from Damon appeared on screen.
"Hello and thank you to everyone at BAFTA," he said in a message after being celebrated by Julianne Moore, Paul Greengrass, George Clooney and more. "I found out about this award six months ago and I was just so incredibly honored to receive it and I was really looking forward to tonight. Unfortunately, I had to go back to Boston for a family emergency. I'm really sorry not to be with you tonight. Thank you for this wonderful honor and I hope you have a lovely evening. See you soon."
Damon faced another family emergency in April, when his daughter was stung by a jellyfish while he and his family were vacationing with Chris Hemsworth in Australia.
Hear the actor recount the scary event on Ellen in the video below.