Matt Damon has admitted he “felt like a jerk” after making a crew member carry his armour up a mountain during the filming of Sir Christopher Nolan’s upcoming blockbuster The Odyssey. The film is an adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic, with Damon starring as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, as he makes his perilous 10-year journey home after the Trojan War.
Location shooting across six countries
Location shooting primarily took place across six countries: Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and the United States. The American actor, 55, detailed the awkward mistake he made while on set during an appearance on The Sara Cox Breakfast Show on BBC 2 on Friday.
“Because these locations were so far-flung… it was amazing where we went to shoot this. Your day would usually start, in some locations, a big hike,” he said. After Cox asked if he had to take “the whole kit and caboodle”, he replied: “Yea in fact on the first day… I am so used to a hair and wardrobe person carrying your costume. But the first day in Greece we were up shooting in a cave and had a 20 to 25 minute hike and I got to the top and then I saw the guy handling my wardrobe – Corey – coming up the hill carrying my armour. I felt like such a … I can’t say what I felt like, there are families listening … but I felt like a jerk! And then all the guys who play my crew come up and they’re all wearing their armour, so the wardrobe crew don’t have to carry it and I felt awful. I apologised profusely to Corey and said that it would never happen again.” He added: “So we would get kitted up and then just go.”
No special treatment on Nolan set
Damon then said working on one of Sir Christopher’s films “felt like more of an expedition than a movie because everyone is in it together”. “You’re out there and there’s no special treatment for anybody. If you’re cold and wet … I turn and he’s just as cold and wet and is hiking up the mountain. We are all in the same boat,” he said.
Sir Christopher has previously said Damon “immediately popped into my head” when casting the titular character. Speaking to comedian and actress Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, he said: “I actually don’t think about actors when I’m writing – I try not to. I try to just live through the characters and the writing process, then come out the other side and go: ‘OK, how is this going to work? Who are we getting for this?’ Matt really immediately popped into my head, because you’re looking for this empathetic ability to draw the audience into a character’s dilemma. He has that openness, he brings the audience with him. But he also can project an iconic, frankly, superhero presence.”
Gruelling filmmaking process
The filmmaker added that he needed a “partner” and “somebody who would lead from the front and just dive in and do all of this crazy stuff without complaining about it”, referring to the gruelling filmmaking process which required climbing mountains and boat trips. Damon also later told Poehler The Odyssey was “the hardest film I’ve ever done”. The director and actor have previously worked together on 2014 space film Interstellar and 2023’s Oppenheimer. The Odyssey also stars Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.
