Kristen Wiig Was 'Terrified' of Working with Matt Damon on Downsizing: 'I Didn't Want to Suck'

Kristen Wiig may have spent seven seasons performing live sketch comedy on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, but when it came to filming scenes in a big screen movie with Oscar winner Matt Damon, that’s when she really got nervous.

The actress, 44, stars alongside Damon in Downsizing, the new comedy from Election director Alexander Payne that imagines a scenario where the solution to overpopulation and climate change is Norwegian scientists shrinking people down to five inches tall.

During an appearance on Inside the Actors Studio airing Thursday, Wigg tells host James Lipton why she signed on to the project.

“The script was really inspiring and one of the best things I’ve read,” she says in a clip, exclusive to PEOPLE. “I loved it so much. And just being on set with Matt Damon and doing my scenes with him, it was just like, class for me.”

Damon might have gotten her interested in the project, but when it came to the experience of acting with him, Wiig — who plays his character’s wife — wasn’t as excited.

“I was terrified because it’s Matt Damon and I didn’t want to suck,” she joked. “I am a huge fan of his but he is, surprise surprise, such a nice, generous . He just tells the best stories and he’s just the greatest guy.”

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Downsizing opens Friday in theaters. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Payne discussed the film’s satirical tone.

“When Jim and I decided to do something with the idea, we saw it in more political terms,” he said. “I don’t want it to sound too much like a political movie. We’re more interested in making human films. Humans are involved in politics, so we thought this story was an interesting prism through which to view our times.”

Inside the Actors Studio airs Thursday (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.