When it came to watching the thrilling race drama "Ford v Ferrari," Matt Damon's nine-year-old had the need for...a quick nap.

Damon admits his daughter Stella, 9, had trouble staying awake watching a past-bed-time screening of the film where he stars as legendary race car designer Carroll Shelby alongside Christian Bale as driver/engineer Ken Miles.

The James Mangold-directed film is getting rave reviews, with a fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% positive critical reviews and easily won the weekend box office with $31 million.

To be fair, Stella saw the film with the family at the Los Angeles world premiere, and these evening events run very late by nine-year-old standards. 

Even with a hair perm:Matt Damon shows true grit as Carroll Shelby in 'Ford v Ferrari'

"It was a little past bed-time," Damon says. "She said to me, 'Dad, I fell asleep twice, but only for 10 seconds.' She said it was really exciting." Literally, so cute.

Damon and wife Luciana Barroso took the whole brood to the premiere earlier this month: daughters Stella, Gia, 11, Isabella, 13, and Alexia, 20. It was a big deal, since it was the first time he's taken the family en masse to one of his films.

"I had taken them to 'Mary Poppins Returns' and 'Beauty and the Beast' premieres. But this was a different level," says Damon. "This was one of Dad’s premieres."

The ever-gracious dad took the nap critique in stride, promising to provide the missing 20 or so seconds when "Ford v Ferrari" comes out on home release.

"I told her, 'It’s okay, when it comes out on iTunes we’ll get it for the missing parts," said Damon.