Yes, you did read that right. Picture the scene – Sid Owen, chilling out on the bench of depression in the middle of Albert Square, when who plonks himself down but the actual Matt Damon. He says, “Hey Sid. I’ve been watching EastEnders for years now and your incredible talent as Ricky Butcher has not gone unnoticed. I am taking you to America where you’ll be a big Hollywood star!” Marvellous, huh?
Unfortunately, this is merely the sort of daydream we imagine Sid Owen has while the sound of Bianca yelling “Rickaaaay” echoes in his ears, not a reality. That was until Lisa Snowdon’s 40th birthday party in London, when Matt Damon (who presumably met Lisa through her ex George Clooney) made a surprise appearance. While guests like Dave Berry and TOWIE’s Lauren Pope partied with Lisa, Sid was somewhere in a dark corner forming his master plan to break America and cackling like an evil genius. Probably.
“Sid saw Matt and made a beeline for him straight away, telling him how much he loves his movies,” a source says to The Mirror. “He introduced himself and said he was an actor too, telling him all about EastEnders.” Oh god… it’s like us meeting Beyonce and going “Oh hi there award-winning singer, we can sing too, mainly in the shower.”
But hey, maybe Matt Damon was standing all alone and Ricky, we mean Sid, was actually rescuing him, you’re thinking. No no, “Matt was standing with Thor actor Chris Hemsworth.” Yes that’s right, Sid Owen, resident of Walford, approached two A-List stars deep in conversation. Their reaction? “Matt looked a bit confused.” We didn’t know it was possible to cringe this much.
There is a happy ending though, as Matt apparently “was supportive and gave him some advice. He said to get in touch any time for help. Sid said the one thing left for him to do was have a stab at Hollywood and he couldn’t wait to do that next.” We’re just glad we weren’t there at the crushing moment when Sid got home and realised Matt hadn’t actually given him a way of getting in touch…