Academy Award-winning actor, film producer, and screenwriter Matt Damon has revealed the one “dangerous” thing he’ll never do again in his career.
Damon, 55, underwent an amazing physical transformation for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic movie “The Odyssey.” He told Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, “I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. and I did that whole movie at 167 pounds.”
167 pounds was Damon’s weight back in high school, so for him to have returned to that weight through sheer hard work in his mid-50s is nothing short of an incredible feat.
But while dropping to that weight may seem so extreme that it was bordering on dangerous, Damon insists he did it safely and responsibly. However, there is a type of transformation he underwent for movies earlier in his career that he insists he’ll never put himself through again.
Matt Damon Won’t Put On Weight for Movies Again
GettySpeaking to People, Matt Damon said of his body transformation for “The Oddyssey,” “I didn’t change it in an unhealthy way.”
He then referenced the times in the past that he had been asked to do the opposite and put on weight for movies and insisted he’ll never do that again.
Damon said, “I think if I had done the opposite and put weight on, that would have been dangerous and it’s not something I’ll do anymore. I was happy to do it earlier in my life.”
The Oscar winner told the publication that, for “The Odyssey,” he gave up gluten, “among other things,” and that “It was more about just getting really, really physically fit, which just really involves changing your diet, just a whole lifestyle change.”
He added, “You have to just be very, very intentional about everything you’re putting in your body.”
On the subject of the difficult (but enjoyable) experience he had filming “The Oddysey,” Damon concluded, “This movie was by far the hardest movie to the most challenging movie I’ve ever been a part of.”
‘The Oddysey’ Is Getting Rave Reviews
GettyWhile “The Oddysey” doesn’t officially hit theaters until Friday, July 17, the reviews from early screenings are almost universally positive.
Per Forbes, Rotten Tomatoes approved critic Austin Burke says of the film, “Maybe THE experience of 2026,” while Gene Park of The Washington Post said, “im absolutely speechless. what an experience.”
Its plot is as follows: “After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso along the way” (per IMDb).
Damon plays Odysseus the movie. His supporting cast is utterly fabulous and includes the likes of Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Travis Scott, Elliot Page, James Remar, and Mia Goth.
It’s hard to see where a movie with that cast, overseen by Christopher Nolan, can possibly go wrong.
Get your tickets now and go and see it once it hits theaters in two days’ time. Oh and, when you’re there, make sure to check out Damon’s incredible transformation!
