Matt Damon on Emily Blunt and John Krasinski’s incredible year

Oscar winner Matt Damon is executive-producing Showtime’s City on a Hill, due in 2019.

For people who know them well, this is the year we’ve all been waiting for. They are both now going to have the careers that they deserve and want. I can’t imagine A Quiet Place was anything but just a lovely set to work on because those two have the same sense of humor and they see the world in the same way.

You talk to any actor, what Emily did in that movie is incredible. And what John took on — co-writer, director, and actor — selling a movie on the fact that there is going to be very little talking? That’s a really high bar, and those performances —really led by her — were just outstanding. They’re so versatile.

Playing a character on a TV show for so long, John had this unfair burden he had to smash through, and that’s been done now, clearly. Emily, I don’t think she ever repeats herself. When I worked with her almost 10 years ago in The Adjustment Bureau, everybody knew she was this really gifted actress. But with this year’s one-two punch of A Quiet Place and Mary Poppins Returns, she’s now a huge movie star in the eyes of the people who greenlight movies. I don’t think we’ve seen the limit of what either of them can do yet.

—As told to Sarah Rodman

For more on John Krasinski and Emily Blunt and Entertainment Weekly‘s 2018 Entertainers of the Year, pick up the new issue when it hits stands on Friday, or buy it now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.