From stunt double to The Odyssey: Devyn Dalton steps into the spotlight
Devyn Dalton steps into focus for her work on The Odyssey — the high-risk craft behind the action deserves a bit more limelight.
For the brutal showdown with the Laestrygonians in Christopher Nolan ’s The Odyssey, Matt Damon says the hero on screen wasn’t always him. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Damon credited 4-foot-6 Canadian stunt performer Devyn Dalton as his double for the giant-slaying sequence, a set piece Nolan staged with old-school, in-camera tricks.
Damon said Nolan relied on practical perspective to sell the scale: Dalton was positioned in relation to much taller stuntmen — reportedly around seven feet — to make Odysseus look dwarfed by towering foes. The approach extended beyond the scene itself.
“And then they got stuntmen who were under five feet, and so my double was a woman, a female stunt performer, who had the greatest arms I’ve ever seen,” he said.
The actor also revealed a poster surprise: the forearm you see as Odysseus faces down a giant on the film ’s key art actually belongs to Dalton, not Damon. It ’s a rare bit of spotlight for a performer whose face isn’t meant to be recognized.
Where you’ve seen Dalton
Dalton started performing young — dance, theater, and a talent-agency signing at 10 — before shifting into stunt work. She made her stunt debut in 2009 and has amassed more than 80 stunt credits across film and TV, plus a growing list of voice roles.
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes — performed as Cornelia
- War for the Planet of the Apes
- The BFG — worked with director Steven Spielberg
- HBO ’s The Last of Us
- Peter Pan & Wendy
- DC ’s Legends of Tomorrow
- Hypnotic
- Two Sentence Horror Stories
- Fairly Odd Christmas
- Brothers
- Beyblade Burst
- My Little Pony
- Barbie in Rock ’N Royals — voice role
- The Electric State — voice role alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt
She told the New York Post she keeps a tight off-set routine — yoga, weight conditioning, boxing and weapons training — so she’s ready the moment a call comes in.
Her reaction to Damon’s shout-out
“I had some friends send me the clip, and my jaw kind of dropped,” Dalton told CBC News. “I just thought it was so awesome. Obviously, I never expect those things. So any kind of recognition or shout-outs, I really appreciate it and I think it’s super awesome.”
“I’m so proud to kind of shine a light on stunts and stunt acting and especially stunt women,” the 34-year-old said. “I think women have worked really hard for a long time in the industry, and it’s really exciting to be a part of maybe a movement where a light is shone on that more.”
Between the Laestrygonian battle and that poster forearm, Dalton’s handiwork is literally baked into The Odyssey’s most striking images.