Matt Damon reveals one of his stunt doubles in 'The Odyssey' was a female
Washington DC, July 22
Matt Damon physically transformed to play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey', but despite this, he also had some help from stunt performers in some key scenes, reported Deadline.
In a new interview, Damon revealed that one of his stunt doubles was a female standing in as the Greek hero as the character faces the giant Laestrygonians.
"When we did the force perspective stuff with the Laestrygonians, there were these stuntmen who were all seven feet, and then they got stunt men who were under five feet," Damon said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast as quoted by Deadline.
"My double was a woman, a female stunt performer who had the greatest arms I've ever seen. When she came into the catering tent, it was the first time I met her. I went up and hugged her and thanked her for all the work she put in," added Damon as quoted by Deadline.
Based on Homer's epic poem, 'The Odyssey' follows the story of Odysseus and his long journey home after the Trojan War. The movie is made on the IMAX camera and is currently screening in IMAX theatres.
The film stars Matt Damon in the lead role, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and an ensemble cast.
According to Deadline, the 'Odyssey' has had an epic box office run so far with a 264.1M USD global opening weekend. This number is a record for Nolan, whose Dark Knight Rises premiered in 2012 to 249M USD worldwide.
The film already scored the best Monday this year in the US with a reported 18.67M USD.
It has already become Nolan's biggest worldwide opening, beating his previous releases 'The Dark Knight Rises' with USD 249 million and 'The Dark Knight' with USD 198 million.
— ANI
Reader Comments
I'm honestly more impressed that she had "the greatest arms" he's ever seen. That's some serious dedication to the craft. The physique required for those action sequences must be insane.
Hats off to Nolan for casting creatively. Having a female stunt double for a male lead shows real progressive thinking. But I wonder how much of the physical transformation Damon did himself? The article doesn't clarify that.
$264 million opening weekend? That's phenomenal. Bollywood should take notes on how to handle epic storytelling and practical effects. Our films rely too much on VFX these days, whereas Nolan does it differently. The female stunt double story is just a bonus!
I'm a bit skeptical about the "female double" angle. Stunt work is physically demanding, and if the double is just standing in for force perspective shots, it's not as groundbreaking as it sounds. Still, nice gesture from Damon to acknowledge her.
The real story here is how Nolan continues to push boundaries. IMAX, practical effects, massive sets. And the female stunt double is just one small part of that. India needs more directors who think this big. Also, kudos to the stunt woman for her dedication. 👏
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