Matt Damon came out in support of NSA leaker Edward Snowden in a little-noticed appearance on BBC Arabic TV show Alternate Cinema, telling host Husam Asi he thought the former intelligence analyst did a "great thing" in leaking information to the press detailing the extent of the National Security Agency's spying operations on US and foreign citizens. Damon has starred as a CIA agent in some of his best-known films, including the "Bourne" trilogy and "The Good Shepherd", and in 2009 he played a whistleblower who tips off the FBI on shady agri-business practices in the black comedy "The Informant". Click the link at the bottom of the page to watch a YouTube clip of Damon in his appearance on Alternate Cinema.

In the clip, posted on August 22, when Damon was asked by host Husam Asi if he would do what Snowden did if he were in his shoes, the actor admitted that he hadn't read everything that Snowden leaked, but indicated that based on what he had seen, he admired him and supported what he had done. "He certainly seems like a very conscientious guy and these revelations are pretty incredible and pretty shocking and kind of fly in the face of public statements that all these officials have made. On balance, I think it's a great thing that he did." He added, "If we're going to trade our civil liberties for our security, then that should be a decision that we collectively make. It shouldn't be made for us. The question is how to keep ourselves safe and hang on to our civil liberties and to what degree do we have to sacrifice, or are we willing to sacrifice, those liberties for our security? That's something everyone needs to talk about."

Earlier this month, Damon -- who is politically on the left -- offered his opinion on the presidency Barack Obama, for whom he had campaigned in 2008. "He broke up with me," Damon told BET. "There are a lot of things that I really question: the legality of the drone strikes and these NSA revelations. Jimmy Carter came out and said 'we don't live in a democracy,' that's a little intense when an ex-president says that, so he's got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor."

Snowden has been granted one-year asylum in Russia, with the possibility of an extension.

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