Matt Damon Says ‘Odyssey’ Position Required Coaching and Food regimen Adjustments

Matt Damon says making ready for his demanding function in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” required “a complete lifestyle change” now that he is in his 50s.

Damon, 55, has lengthy been related to action-heavy roles, together with Jason Bourne, a personality he first performed at age 30.

Amy Poehler requested Damon in regards to the distinction in making ready for the roles throughout his look on her podcast, “Good Hang,” which was launched Tuesday.

“It’s one thing running and punching in ‘Bourne’ in your 30s; it’s way different to be getting jacked in your 50s,” Poehler mentioned.

“It’s just a complete, a complete lifestyle change,” Damon mentioned. “There’s no planning it. Any other time I tried to do something like that, it was always like, ‘well, I’ll time my workouts…’ — this was like, ‘No.'”

“Just put your foot on the gas, and that’s it,” he added. “That’s the only way to do it — and eat a little less.”

‘A whole way of life change’

Among his modifications for the function, Damon gave up gluten, a choice he mentioned “completely changed my life.”

The actor beforehand mentioned the weight-reduction plan — along with working with a coach for the movie — obtained him all the way down to his high-school weight.

Other modifications weren’t by alternative. Damon instructed Poehler the filming course of was detrimental to his sleep, with the manufacturing crew joking about what they referred to as “the ‘Odyssey’ Five.”

“If you could get five hours [of sleep], you were thrilled,” he mentioned.

A few nights, he was too drained to sleep in any respect due to the day’s strenuous filming, he mentioned.

‘The Odyssey’ pushed its actors to their limits

On Poehler’s podcast, Damon, who performs the lead, Odysseus, in “The Odyssey,” mentioned each actor needed to undergo “physical discomfort” as a result of calls for of various scenes, which depict characters in bodily labor and amongst antagonistic environmental situations.

“Every single person around you was weathering those same difficulties and pushing themselves,” Damon mentioned.

The Oscar-winning actor described a scene shot in a cave, believed to be one of many potential birthplaces of Zeus in Greek mythology. Rather than utilizing CGI, Nolan selected to movie in difficult-to-reach locations that Damon mentioned “nobody would be crazy enough to try to shoot in.”

The movie was shot in numerous nations and areas, together with Italy, Greece, Iceland, Scotland, and Western Sahara.

Other actors within the movie have additionally shared the challenges of engaged on the venture. Zendaya mentioned she was unable to open her mouth due to freezing temperatures whereas filming in Iceland, per Variety.

Despite the discomfort, Damon instructed Poehler it was “one of the great roles of all time” and attending to be part of the crew was “one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.”

“It felt more like an expedition than a movie,” he mentioned.