Matt Damon reveals he said 'yes' to 'The Odyssey' even before reading script
Mumbai, July 7
Actor Matt Damon, who will be seen as Odysseus in 'The Odyssey', shared that he committed to the project before even hearing the full pitch by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
"I said yes before he even told me what it was," Damon recalls.
"Chris said, 'Don't you want to hear the pitch?' I said, 'Okay, sure.' And he said two words: 'The Odyssey.'"
For Nolan, Damon was always the only choice to bring Homer's iconic hero to life.
"I needed Matt because I needed someone who had extraordinary talent and an incredible connection with the audience, and he was just in the right place in his life and career to play this part," says Nolan.
"Odysseus is somebody with great imagination and wisdom, but he has a weary quality, too. It is a mature role with a lot of complexity to it and very difficult to play, but Matt really sunk his teeth into it."
Nolan also credits Damon for helping shape the production beyond his performance.
"I needed someone who was not just willing to go on a rigorous journey but help lead it. Matt brings such positive energy to everything he does. He is able to channel the angst of difficult shooting circumstances into a character. He is an incredible motivator and a wonderful example to the rest of the cast and crew. The film would have been unthinkable without him."
After reading Homer's epic poem and Nolan's screenplay, Damon was struck by the filmmaker's ability to preserve the essence of the classic while giving it a fresh cinematic identity.
"It reminded me of his script for Oppenheimer, because that film was also drawn from a dense, substantial book, and he found an amazing way to distill it to its essentials without losing any of its plot, themes or richness," Damon shared.
"Chris has restructured the narrative in an artful way that gives it real economy, and the themes he emphasizes give it a distinct identity and meaning. But it is still very much Homer's Odyssey. It also has a strong emotional core and through-line that feels deeply personal. There is a universality in its specificity that I think will move anyone. The themes certainly resonated with my own life. It was an incredible piece of writing."
The Odyssey will release worldwide from 17 July.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Big fan of Nolan's work - Inception and Interstellar are masterpieces. But I have to be honest: casting a white actor as Odysseus when the story is set in ancient Greece? The man is literally from Ithaca. Shouldn't Greek actors or at least Mediterranean actors get a chance? Hollywood's casting diversity conversations seem to skip over Greek representation. That said, Damon is talented and I'll still watch because Nolan's vision is always worth it.
As someone who studied the Odyssey in college literature, I'm genuinely excited about this. Nolan has a knack for finding emotional cores in even the most epic stories - look at how he made a physicist's moral dilemma gripping in Oppenheimer. The fact that Damon was so moved by the script gives me goosebumps. It reminds me of how our epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata have been adapted countless times, each bringing something new while staying true to the soul. 🙌
Matt Damon agreeing before even hearing the pitch? That's the kind of trust Nolan commands. The man made a film about a physicist writing equations that felt like a thriller. If he can do that, imagine what he'll do with a 3000-year-old epic poem. The 'weary quality' of Odysseus that Damon mentioned - that's the part I'm most curious about. It's not just a hero's journey; it's a man trying to get home after war. Very relevant even today.
My only concern is runtime. Nolan films are notoriously long and while I loved Oppenheimer's 3 hours, the Odyssey has so many episodes - the Lotus Eaters, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis. How do you fit that into 2.5-3 hours without rushing? But if anyone can do it, Nolan can. Also, between Oppenheimer and now this, Nolan clearly has a fascination with men who are both brilliant and burdened. Makes you think about his own perspective on
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