How Matt Damon Approached ‘The Odyssey’ Transformation Like an Athlete (Exclusive)

Matt Damon is starring as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and he sat down with “Extra’s” Terri Seymour to dish on the epic movie. 

In the film, Odysseus, King of Ithaca, is on a perilous journey home after the Trojan War. 

Matt said what excited him about playing Odysseus was, “Just how dynamic a character he is, how flawed he is. You know, he’s a human being. I think that’s really relatable for me, you know, in my middle age… We all have our mistakes, our regrets… He’s a very human protagonist.” 

Damon recalled how difficult the shoot was, saying, “In fact, that was one of the first things [Nolan] told me was how hard it was going to be. And I kind of blew him off. I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ And he goes, ‘No, no, it’s going to be really hard.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, got it.’ And it was I think there was a point kind of halfway through… maybe on the ship bouncing through waves, and I turned to him and I’m like, ‘Well, you said it was going to be hard.’ We just started laughing.”

Matt went on, “What was kind of wonderful about it was it was really hard for everybody. Every single department got pushed further than they thought they could go… and so there was this incredible team spirit.” 

He shared a funny moment with co-star Himesh Patel as they discussed the shooting locations and conditions.

Damon said, “We were in Iceland. It was 4:00 in the morning… There’s driving rain, we’re soaked and we’re walking back after, you know, Chris has called cut, across this black sand, and he goes, ‘Hey, Matt, is this the toughest location you've ever been on in your career?’ and I thought about it and then the answer occurred to me and I said, ‘I don't know, Himesh… If there was ever something harder than it was on this movie and you were there, so you tell me, is this the hardest set you've ever been on?’"

Matt also talked about his physical transformation and approaching it like an athlete. 

Damon said it was a “full lifestyle choice” with “intentionality.”

The 55-year-old said, “Every single decision, of every piece of food I put in my body, every hour of sleep I got... It was almost more like approaching the physical side of it like an athlete… It’s not an eight-hour-a-day job. It’s a 24-hour-a-day job.”

The actor said of Nolan, “He described it to me six months before we shot as lean but strong. Like, ‘I want him to look like he’s capable, but like he could use a meal if it was offered.’ And so, that was what we went for.

He said now, “I'm trying to, in my real life, to look capable, but like I'm well-fed.” 

Seymour also caught up with Nolan, who spoke about the challenge of taking the 3,000-year-old epic and bringing it to modern audiences. Christopher also shared why Matt Damon was the perfect lead as Odysseus. Watch!