From director Clint Eastwood, “Invictus” tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

In theaters: December 11, 2009

this movie probably has a tear jerking/bitter sweet ending..

Yes, I think I am ready for another Bourne movie. Bring it on.

Excerpts:
How did this bold pairing come about?
I remember seeing Matt’s [video] and thinking to myself, ”Oh, it would be funny to do one with me and Jimmy.” They called and immediately I was like, ”Yes, it should be this idea…,” and they had the same idea more or less already. I have a lot of respect for the group over there — they’re really good comedians — so I just committed to it. Everything I got from them was really funny and made me excited. Although some of it was a little bit like… [Laughs] I looked at it on paper and thought, ”Wow. Okay. I can do this. I can handle it.”

What took you by surprise? The tight outfits? The toe-painting?
You couldn’t really do it half-speed. You had to be painting toes and blow-drying hair. At one point we were going to take a bath together, but the bubbles couldn’t get high enough, so that ended up getting scrapped. The little outfits, the short shorts, the hands in the pockets — it wouldn’t have been funny if you didn’t really commit to it.

Were you surprised that all of these celebrities wound up participating?
Brad [Pitt] said yes, and that was really cool. And then Don [Cheadle], Cameron [Diaz], I mean, Huey Lewis, all the musicians who populated the ”We Are the World” aspect of it… In some ways, my favorite part of it is Josh Groban. I mean, he’s just hollering. The way he sings just full-throated cheese at the piano and the shaft of light, I mean, it’s spectacular. Every time we got one of those people, I felt like, This is either really great or it’s really terrible for me, because I’m gonna have to be living with this ”I’m F—ing Ben Affleck” anthem for the rest of my life!… I hope it virals out by the time my daughter is using the Internet.

What was Matt Damon’s reaction?
He e-mailed me. He thought it was hysterical. Like me, he thought it was almost surreal to see all these people, one after another, but that’s what makes it really funny.

Are you expecting retaliation?
I think the retaliation might be aimed at Jimmy — at least I’m hoping — because he’s really the culprit. But in this day and age, I wouldn’t be surprised if retaliation were visited upon me. So I’ll keep my guard up. I’m sure that the next time I end up on that show, there’ll be something lying in wait. I don’t know, maybe me and Sarah will hook up, maybe it’ll be some kind of a three-way. Maybe animals will be involved. It will have to be taken to another level — a horrible, horrible level that will stop being funny and then stop being passed around on video.