Eagle-eyed viewers of “The Gilded Age” may have caught a brief glimpse of two entertainment powerhouses.
When the fourth season of the HBO series premiered on Sunday night, some fans noticed two familiar-looking gentlemen crossing a street together.
Deadline reported they were none other than Matt Damon and David Letterman.
Letterman looked mostly like himself with his white bushy beard, but with an added bowler hat to tie his all-black ensemble together.
Damon may have been a little more difficult to recognize under his top hat, because he sported sideburns and a fuzzy mustache.
“Neither character utters a word, but they look like serious businessmen on their way to close some major deals for buckets of money,” Deadline wrote.
So why were they there?
It was an art-imitates-life moment.
Damon is appearing on Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” show, and part of the episode ties in with “The Gilded Age” appearance, Deadline explained.
The Oscar-winning actor started his career as a background actor, People magazine noted.
Letterman’s showrunner Isabel Richardson said that the host had wanted to be in the background of productions, she told Vulture.
While Damon “unequivocally chose this idea as his favorite” because it was “by far the silliest, most ridiculous idea,” she said.
Richardson explained that a line producer spoke to a friend who works on “The Gilded Age.” Then the HBO show’s executive producer spoke with others at the cable and streaming channel.
“The only way I could think of was if we did it in a very controlled manner and it was a shot that we needed, so there was a high chance of it making the cut,” executive producer Kate Churchill told Vulture.
The pair were uncredited, Rolling Stone reported.