‘I Would’ve Been Miserable 20 Years Ago Trying to Do That Job’ — Matt Damon Says He’s ‘Still Kind of Unpacking’ the ‘Profound Effect’ Filming The Odyssey Had on Him

Matt Damon has discussed how tough it was filming Christopher Nolan’s next epic, The Odyssey, which he said had a “profound” effect on him.

The Odyssey, written and directed by Nolan and due out July 17, 2026, is based on Homer’s saga, and is described as “a mythic action epic” shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the star of the film.

Shots revealed by the debut trailer, below, show Matt Damon walking on sand, trudging through a forest, exploring a cave, desperately trying to sail a boat, and, alongside his soldiers, hiding inside the famous Trojan Horse as it’s dragged from the sea.

In an interview with Netflix to promote new movie The Rip, Damon said he was still “unpacking” the experience of filming The Odyssey, but admitted “it did have a profound effect on me.”

“If I look objectively at what was required to do that job, I think it came at just the right time in my life,” he revealed. “I think I would’ve been miserable 20 years ago trying to do that job. Because you were uncomfortable every day, but I really enjoyed… like, deeply enjoyed every minute of it.”

“Intellectually I understood that concept of, you’re not in control of what happens, but you are in control of how you feel about it,” Damon continued. “It’s easier said than done. But to really feel gratitude. And I think because it was tied into not only the joy in being able to have a role that great, with a director that great, with a group of people that great, and a story that great, but in that sense of nostalgia I had for how I started, how I came into the business, the feeling I had when I was shooting School Ties, and Freddie Francis was the cinematographer, and, I was like, this is really happening. Back to, like, the very first feature, like the one line I had in Mystic Pizza, it was like three nights of shooting this dinner table scene, because there was a lot of coverage in the scene. And I just remember being elated for three straight nights. Just completely joyful.

“Doing The Odyssey this last year, it felt like my one chance in my life to make a David Lean movie, that I was making the last big movie on film that I was ever gonna get to make. And it’s so funny to think that it really is all in how you look at it. Like, yeah, I was wet and I was cold and I was hungry and I was… yeah, all that happened.

“But there was a guy who works with Chris on a lot of his movies who was a Navy Seal named Duffy. And Duffy said to me towards the end of the film — because those guys… like to become that there is a lot of discomfort you have to experience and tolerate. Almost nobody can do it. A very, very tiny percentage of human beings can even do it — and he said to me towards the end of the movie, ‘You never remember how cold you were. That’s not the memory that you have. That’s a fleeting feeling and it’s gonna pass, and you’re gonna be warm again. You’re just not warm now. And so get comfortable in the discomfort. Just see it for what it is. It’s not forever.’”

Earlier this month, Damon revealed he slimmed down to his high school weight for the role. “I had a beard like yours for like a year,” he told Jason and Travis Kelce on a recent episode of their podcast, New Heights. “I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong.”

He also noted that a specific change in diet helped him get there. “Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten,” Damon explained. “I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, 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.”

The Ocean’s Eleven star also told the hosts how training so intensely for the role felt like playing a season of professional sports. “I imagine what that feels like for you guys, where you’re preparing,” Damon said to the Kelces. “It’s just part of your day, it’s part of your job, and you get really routinized about it and kinda build your day around all that stuff.”

The Odyssey is expected to perform particularly well following the breakout success of Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the Cillian Murphy-led biopic that fuelled one half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon. Oppenheimer earned a staggering $975 million during its theatrical run, and walked away with Best Picture at the Oscars. Following the debut trailer for The Odyssey is out in the wild, age-old debates about “historical accuracy” reemerged.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.