Matt Damon Drops Major Pounds for Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Role
Matt Damon opened up about his intense physical transformation for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic, sharing how he slimmed down to a weight he hadn’t seen since his teenage years.
Matt Damon has opened up about the dramatic physical changes he underwent to prepare for his role in Christopher Nolan ’s highly anticipated film, The Odyssey. The movie, set to hit theaters on July 17, 2026, features a star-studded lineup including Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, and Mia Goth alongside Damon.
During a recent appearance on the New Heights Podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce, Damon discussed the rigorous process he followed to get in shape for the film.
“I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight,”
he shared, explaining that Nolan had a specific vision for his character’s physique.
“[Nolan] wanted me lean but strong,”
Damon said, detailing the strict regimen he adopted to meet those expectations.
Transforming for the Role
Damon revealed that he worked closely with his doctor and made significant dietary changes, including cutting out gluten entirely.
“Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten. I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167,”
he explained. The actor, best known for his work in Good Will Hunting, noted that it had been decades since he weighed that little.
“And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet,”
Damon admitted.
Filming with IMAX Technology
Beyond the physical demands, Damon also spoke about the unique challenges of filming The Odyssey with IMAX cameras. He described the experience as intense, noting the noise generated by the equipment.
“IMAX cameras are really loud. It sounds like a blender, like a Cuisinart in your face when the camera’s close to you,”
he said. According to Damon, capturing dialogue scenes with such cameras was unprecedented.
“We couldn’t have this conversation with a normal Imax camera because you wouldn’t be able to hear us,”
he explained.
To overcome this, Nolan and his team engineered a special setup for the dialogue scenes.
“They built this giant thing around the Imax for those dialogue scenes and a system of mirrors so your eye line would be close to the camera and you could talk to the other actor,”
Damon shared. He praised Nolan’s dedication and ingenuity, saying,
“The amount of work that went into figuring out how to do (that), because he wanted to do 100 percent IMAX and he did it!”