How did Matt Damon cut down to his "high school" weight for 'The Odyssey'? Actor details his transformation journey for Christopher Nolan's film

While filming Christopher Nolan's epic, Matt Damon revealed on the New Heights podcast with the Kelce brothers that he underwent one of his leanest physical transformations to date for The Odyssey, dropping to a weight he hadn't been since his high school days.

Damon revealed that he weighed about 167 pounds during filming, which was lower than his typical weight range of 185 to 200 pounds. This was because Nolan had wanted him to be seen as "lean and strong" while playing Odysseus. Speaking about his weight cut during filming, Matt Damon told Jason:

"I had a beard like yours for like a year. I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong."

Matt Damon added that he decided to cut down glutten only after he consulted his doctor. Although the diet was a result of health advice, the actor explained that the new diet helped him lose weight quickly due to his intense training regimen:

"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. And I haven't been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet."

Matt Damon also explained that he has continued to live a gluten-free lifestyle since he completed filming for the movie:

"I'm done. I'm gluten-free everything."

Damon continued as he cracked a joke:

"I found a gluten-free beer. It's been so long since I've had gluten, I can't tell if it's good or not. So, that's a good sign."

Matt Damon compared training to being an athlete

Matt Damon likened his own preparation for The Odyssey to preparing for an NFL season like the Kelce brothers would do. As such, he spent his time working out and recovering just like athletes:

"When I do that or when I do the ‘Jason Bourne’ movies or whatever, it feels almost like a season. I would imagine what that feels like for you guys – when you’re preparing."

Damon added:

"It’s like just part of your day. It’s part of your job, right? It’s like you get really routinized about it and kind of build your day around all that stuff. That’s kind of the physical side of getting ready."

Comparing his body transformations to other roles

This isn't even close to the first time Matt Damon has made such extreme changes to his body for a part. He dropped weight to a very dangerous low for Courage Under Fire in the 1990s. He later named it as an experience that "really took it out of" him healthwise. Speaking to U.K. outlet Express about his weight cut back in 1996, he said:

"I went too far. I got sick, and I wouldn’t do that again because it was just too much. At the same time, it helped the performance."

He continued:

"I didn’t have to act at all; I was a wreck. I was getting dizzy spells and hot flashes. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I might be really ill."

Then in 2009, he took on about 30 pounds for The Informant! He told NBC that it was comparatively easier:

"It was very, very easy to gain the weight. Very, very fun. I just basically ate everything I could see for a few months."

Later in 2016, for The Bourne Ultimatum, he had to get back in shape as he returned to the franchise nearly after nine years. Speaking to the BBC in an interview, he revealed it was hard:

"For the first Bourne movie I was 29 and I thought that was hard work getting into shape. Now I'm 45 and it's just brutal. We shot this bare-knuckle fighting scene on my 45th birthday and it was a lot of work to get there."

Reuniting with Christopher Nolan

This movie marks Matt Damon and Nolan's third collaboration. Apart from the physical aspect, Damon also talked about the ambitious scale of Nolan’s latest endeavor. The Odyssey happens to be the first ever Hollywood production to be filmed using only IMAX cameras, and as such, there has been a technical need to overcome noise levels emanating from the cameras for recording dialogue scenes. Damon said:

“IMAX cameras are really loud. It sounds like a blender, like a Cuisinart in your face when the camera’s close to you. So there’s never been these dialogue [scenes in Imax].”

He added:

“We couldn’t have this conversation with a normal IMAX camera because you wouldn’t be able to hear us. 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. 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!”

The movie was shot in Greece, Iceland, and Morocco. Matt Damon also spoke about how the scale of Nolan’s imagination often left him speechless:

“We would get there and I’d just start laughing. I’d be like, ‘Nobody has any business shooting here! Of course he wants to shoot here. That tracks.’ He has such a great crew. His crew is so badass. And everybody just maxed out on that movie, and we made all of our days. We actually finished ahead of schedule. It was an awesome experience.”

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The Odyssey marks Matt Damon's collab with the iconic director for the third time, following Interstellar and Oppenheimer. The Odyssey is set to release in theatres on 17 July 2026.

Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.

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