Matt Damon on his physical transformation for ‘The Odyssey’: “I haven’t been that light since high school”
The actor reveals the key to his diet for playing Homer’s hero.
Matt Damon had to get in great shape to play Odysseus, the protagonist of ‘The Odyssey.’ The new film by Christopher Nolan, director of ‘Tenet,’ ‘The Dark Knight,’ and ‘Oppenheimer,’ is based on the epic poem attributed to Homer, one of the classic Greek works that has survived to this day. In an interview on the New Heights podcast, the actor admitted that he hadn’t been this slim since his high school days.
“Yeah, I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight,” he explained. The actor revealed Christopher Nolan’s vision for his character’s appearance: “[He] said he wanted me like lean but strong. It’s a weird thing”
Hard training and a strict diet
To achieve this, he followed his doctor’s advice and decided to change a key element of his diet: “I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten,” he revealed. This allowed him to lose weight and reach his goal: “I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Damon has highlighted the importance of personal trainers and routine in the process: “It’s just having kind of a clear goal and setting it.” The actor has already taken on demanding roles that require training, a process that is “part of the job,” according to Damon. After completing production, the actor has decided to keep gluten out of his diet: “I’m done. I’m gluten-free everything. I found a gluten-free beer.”
‘The Odyssey’ opens exclusively in theaters on July 17.
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