Recently, People magazine named Matt Damon the Sexiest Man Alive. He was the first to scoff at the title, treating it as more of an embarrassment than an honour. Nicest Guy in Show Business might be a more fitting label for the boyish actor from Boston. With the Bourne franchise under his belt, Damon, 37, is a major Hollywood player, but he's the anti-Cruise superstar. Face to face, he seems remarkably ordinary and self-effacing. Before sitting down for this conversation, he strolled into the room, unannounced and unnoticed. Damon was in Toronto to host a gala and auction for the Canadian children's charity ONE X ONE. He personally bid $150,000 for a prize that was sweetened, at the last minute, by the offer of a home-cooked meal by supermodel Petra Nemcova, one of the celebrity guests. She offered to make strudel. Damon pledged his money on the condition that he could bring his wife. Later that night, he and his buddy Ben Affleck hopped a private jet to embark on a fact-finding mission in Africa — where Damon is now heavily engaged in the fight against child poverty and disease.

Q: Let me play devil's advocate for a second, because I think a lot of people have become very skeptical and jaded about celebrities promoting causes, suspecting that it's tied into self-promotion or that it's a public display of virtue. How do you counter that?

A: Well, to a certain extent you can't, because you're at the mercy of whatever coverage you get, and I don't think there's any way to convince people of what your motives are. A good example is a couple years ago: Brad Pitt went and did a Diane Sawyer 60 Minutes interview about Africa in prime-time American television. The year before, Africa had received five minutes of coverage in prime time for the entire year. And so when you're faced with the fact that if you agree to go on one of these shows, then you can actually make that much of a difference — it's kind of unconscionable not to. So yeah, you get some flak for it, but I can take that hit.

Q: Celebrity is kind of a currency that goes beyond wealth. It really is leverage.

A: It is. Now it's a different conversation as to is that right or wrong. Look, I would much rather people were listening to politicians about this than actors, but the politicians aren't talking about this, you know?

Q: None?

A: Well, we're trying. The great thing about this issue is it's not partisan. I mean, people from the far right to the far left are over there working, and the church is very active there. Everyone's there for different reasons but everyone's there.

Q: Does the position you're in prevent you from becoming active in a partisan way?

A: It should. If I'm smart it does.

Q: Are you a registered Democrat?

A: I actually registered Independent when I registered in Florida recently because I don't want anyone taking my vote for granted anymore, but historically I've always voted Democrat. I remember reading an interview with Bono where they said, "What's the first thing you'd do if you met George Bush?" and he said, "I'd get down and kiss his feet and say thank you for PEPFAR," which is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In Zambia I've met thousands and thousands of people who are alive because of that program, and the Global Fund as well.

Q: The fame and wealth of being a movie star, given that there's a certain element of serendipity in how all that happens, does it bring with it a measure of social guilt — "What have I done to deserve this?"

A: Probably, but I don't feel that it's that. I feel luckier to have been born a white male and American. I mean, that already is . . .

Q: A step up.

A: Yeah, it's not a fair playing field and you're on a good yard line right there. But yeah, certainly the older I get, and now having children, you start to internalize issues in a different way and grow as a human being. Issues end up speaking to you in a more personal way.

Q: Later tonight you're flying to Africa with Ben Affleck?

A: Yeah.

Q: What's up with that?

A: Well, I went on a trip last year with DATA — Debt AIDS Trade Africa — and they're kind of the parent company of the ONE campaign. Bono works with DATA and with ONE, and that was originally how I got involved. They do what they call listening and learning trips where you can go and hook in with all of these different programs on the ground.

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