Trailer for ‘The Odyssey’
The trailer for Universal Pictures’ epic ‘The Odyssey’ starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Matt Damon opens up about how achieving his dramatic physical transformation for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ “just took over my life.”
The 55-year-old actor appeared almost unrecognizable starring as the legendary Greek hero Odysseus in the mythological epic, which dominated the global box office after its release on July 17 with approximately $264 million in its opening weekend, the biggest debut of Nolan’s career.
During a recent appearance on “Lives with Kelly and Mark“Damon revealed what it took to bring the 55-year-old director’s vision for the role to life.
“He said, ‘I just want him to look lean and strong like someone who is a veteran of the Trojan War and can take care of himself, but wouldn’t pass up a meal if it was offered to him,'” Damon recalled Nolan telling him.
Matt Damon detailed his intense six-month transformation for “The Odyssey.” (Kristy Sparow/Getty Images for Universal Pictures; Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.)
“And that’s the hardest way to adopt, you know, that kind of lean and strong thing,” the actor added. “But it just took over my life.”
In the film, which is an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” Odysseus spends 10 years trying to return home after fighting in the 10-year Trojan War, enduring shipwrecks, battles with monsters, hunger, imprisonment and constant physical hardships on his journey.
MATT DAMON REFUSES TO PUT BODY IN ‘DANGEROUS’ SITUATIONS FOR HOLLYWOOD ROLES AFTER TURNING 50
Damon told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos that he underwent a intense six month process to realistically portray the hardened and battle-hardened warrior.
The “Good Will Hunting” referenced his January appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast.new heights“, in which he revealed that he had slimmed down to his “high school” weight for the role. While speaking with the NFL stars, Damon shared, “I used to walk around 185 to 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie weighing 167 pounds.”
“I was talking to the Kelce brothers on their podcast like six months ago and we were talking about it,” he told Ripa and Consuelos. “It felt more like an athlete’s regimen, like those guys who have to spend every waking moment thinking about everything.”
The actor adopted a strict gluten-free diet to play the Greek hero Odysseus. (Aalok Soni/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
MARVEL STAR VINCENT D’ONOFRIO SAYS HE ‘CAN’T DO’ KINGPIN TRANSFORMATION ANYMORE
Damon described how he followed a routine in which portions of food were measured and every aspect of his diet was carefully monitored.
“Everything is heavy,” he said. “He’s very, very intentional about everything.”
Damon also reflected on adopting a gluten free diet to lose kilos. He noted that he had not previously realized how many foods and drinks contain gluten.
“It’s in a lot of things, but there are a lot of wonderful things it’s not in,” he said, before citing rice and potatoes.
However, Damon acknowledged that he had to make some difficult sacrifices to stay gluten-free.
“Listen, I had to give up beer. That was hard,” he said.
“Is there gluten in beer?” —Ripa asked.
“Sure is,” Damon replied. “Yes. There are some gluten-free beers, though. I’m learning about all of this.”
“It’s in bread. It’s in pasta. It’s in a lot of the things we love,” he added.
Jimmy Gonzales as Cepheus, Matt Damon as Odysseus and Himesh Patel as Eurylochus in “The Odyssey,” written, produced and directed by Nolan. (Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.)
During a July interview with people magazineDamon recalled that his commitment to staying gluten-free was tested when his wife Luciana, 50, and their four daughters Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15, visited him while he was filming “The Odyssey” in Italy.
“I promised them I was going to have pasta with them, and right after I ordered it, I called the waiter and said, ‘Please, I’ll have a steak instead,'” Damon recalled.
“And the kids said, ‘But you promised!’, and I said, ‘I’ll have a bite of each of your pasta,'” she continued. “So I took a bite out of each of them.”
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“I was in it, it was just going to be four or five more months. It’s all or nothing right now,” Damon added.
While speaking with Ripa and Consuelos, Damon explained why he continued to maintain a gluten-free diet after completing production on “The Odyssey.”
“I just I felt much better“, said.
Damon said he has continued to maintain his gluten-free regimen since production on “The Odyssey” wrapped. (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
Damon has previously opened up about transforming your body for roles. For the 1996 war drama “Courage Under Fire,” Damon lost 40 to 50 pounds in about 100 days to play a Persian Gulf veteran dying of addiction and trauma.
The actor later said that his extreme weight loss It was dangerous and he revealed that a doctor told him “it could have shrunk my heart permanently.”
“I went too far,” Damon said through the UK Express Departure. “I got sick and I wouldn’t do that again because it was too much.”
“At the same time, it helped performance,” he continued. “I didn’t have to act at all; I was a mess. I had dizziness and hot flashes. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I was really sick.”
Meanwhile, Damon has previously said he had a more pleasant experience when he gained about 30 pounds to play real-life whistleblower Mark Whitacre in “The Informant!” of 2009.
“It was very, very easy to gain weight. Very, very fun,” Damon told reporters in 2009. via NBC.“I basically ate everything I could see for a few months.”
However, Damon recently shared that he is no longer willing to subject himself to extreme weight fluctuations for roles.
Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena in “The Odyssey,” written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. (Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.)
While talking about transforming her body for “The Odyssey” in an interview with people magazine, Damon noted, “I didn’t change it in an unhealthy way.”
“I think if I had done the opposite and gained weight, it would have been dangerous and it’s not something I’ll do again,” she continued. “I was happy I did it earlier in my life.”
Damon has previously shed light on other aesthetic changes he made to play Odysseus, including growing a beard and keeping it for a year.
while talking to USA today, Damon said he and Nolan agreed that a handmade fake beard was out of the question because of the water stunts the actor had to perform for the film.
“Any film problem, the best solution is practice,” Damon said. “In that case, it was like they were going to throw me in. They were going to throw me in the water. Like a beard that didn’t… that didn’t stay on, you know, a hand-placed beard would just come off in salt water.”
DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU ARE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
He continued: “So there was no point in trying to grow a beard by hand, something I’ve done for other films and it works very well. But in this case, [Nolan] It was like, ‘The only practical solution is to just have a beard.'”
“So I had a big bushy beard for about a year. My kids thought I looked like Santa Claus,” he added, laughing.
Damon said he is no longer willing to transform his body in unhealthy ways for a role. (Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.)
Nolan is known for his commitment to authenticity, which is a hallmark of the The films of the Oscar-winning director. “The Odyssey” marked a reunion for Damon and Nolan after they previously collaborated on the hit films “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer.”
While speaking with Ripa and Consuelos, Damon praised Nolan’s directing style and his preference for practical effects.
“He’s amazing to work with,” Damon said. “He’s a great actor’s director. He’s a lot of fun to work with.”
“And he gets this elite team,” he continued. “They’re very good and trained to know how he wants to do things. He wants to film everything in camera. There’s no CGI. So if you see a thousand people in a battle, there’s a thousand people there. If there are ships in the background of a shot, they’re real ships.”
“And the amount of coordination that’s needed between all of these departments is really extraordinary today,” Damon added. “It really is. It’s great to be a part of it. It felt like we were making a movie from 70 years ago, which is great.”
Damon recalled that he immediately signed on to the project after Nolan asked him to play the controlling role in his next film. (Aalok Soni/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
Damon told Ripa and Consuelos that, for him, committing to “The Odyssey” required little deliberation. Recalling the moment Nolan first offered him the lead role, the actor said the director spent about 15 minutes catching up before mentioning that he was thinking about returning to work.
“And I’d like to offer you the central role,” Damon recalled Nolan saying.
Damon said he agreed immediately, prompting Nolan to ask, “Don’t you want to hear what it is?”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“I was like, ‘Sure,'” Damon said. “And he says, ‘It’s a two-word speech: The Odyssey.’
“My heart skipped a beat,” he recalled. “It’s an incredible role for an actor. The role of a lifetime.”
