The Talented Mr. Ripley, Interstellar, the Bourne movies, Good Hill Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, and The Departed. Matt Damon has had an incredible career, right? But by the actor’s own account, each of these terrific titles pale in comparison when talking about his experience working on Christopher Nolan’s globe-trotting adaptation of The Odyssey. This summer, in the full splendor of IMAX technology, Damon’s Odysseus will make his long journey home to Ithaca after winning the war with his ingenious Trojan Horse. On the way, he and his men encounter all manner of fantastical and elemental threats, including the cyclops Polyphemus and the Sirens.
Joined by his best friend and The Rip co-star Ben Affleck on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, Damon was asked how it was to shoot the movie with director Nolan last year. The film was primarily shot on location in Greece, Morocco, and Italy, among other countries, from February to August 2025. Reports revealed that the production was especially ambitious, even by Nolan’s standards. Nevertheless, Damon loved every second of his experience.
“Fantastic. Yeah, it was absolutely the pinnacle of my entire career. I loved every minute of it. I just loved it.”
As it happens, Affleck and his kids were the only guests allowed on the set of The Odyssey, and managed to witness the production crew whipping up an actual storm for the “warriors on the water” the day they visited.
“My kids never wanna come to the set. When I’m working, they’re like, ‘I got school.’ But they were really psyched to come visit this set; my middle child’s really interested in The Odyssey. This is the way that Hollywood made movies when they were great, epic, in-camera David Lean movies, and Chris is a really serious guy and somebody I admire. I know [he] believes the set is a place to work, so I was honestly grateful that he let me come by and visit. My kids really liked it and so it was kinda cool. I was deeply grateful.”
Getting Into Shape as Odysseus, King of Ithaca
To play Homer’s classic hero from the poem, Matt Damon physically reinvented himself — not just by growing a wise old beard, but by cutting down some serious weight. The 55-year-old explained as much while appearing on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast, telling the hosts that the filmmaker had a particular idea for how he should look on camera.
“I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong. Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten. I used to walk around at between 185 and 200 [pounds], and I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Alongside the Oppenheimer star, Nolan amassed the cast of the year for his upcoming movie. This includes Tom Holland (as Telemachus), Anne Hathaway (Queen Penelope), Zendaya (Athena), Charlize Theron (Circe), Jon Bernthal (Menelaus), Robert Pattinson (Antinous), Himesh Patel (Eurylochus), John Leguizamo (Eumaeus), and Mia Goth (Melantho), plus Lupita Nyong’o, James Remar, Elliot Page, Samantha Morton, and Logan Marshall-Green in undisclosed roles. The Odyssey will be released in cinemas on July 17.
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