Matt Damon has been doing physically punishing shoots for 30 years. The Bourne movies. “Ford v Ferrari.” “The Last Duel.” “The Martian,” where he played a man stranded alone on another planet.
He spent 91 days as Odysseus on Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer, shot across Greece, Sicily, Iceland, Scotland, Morocco, Malta, Western Sahara, and the UK from February to August of last year. Nolan refused green screen. The production used a genuinely seaworthy ship that sailed real segments of the route Odysseus is supposed to have taken.
The IMAX cameras weighed over 400 pounds and had to be helicoptered into locations. Nolan refused fake hair, so Damon grew the beard for a full year before cameras rolled. He cut his weight down to around 167 pounds while building lean strength. Scott Pelley, who interviewed him for the upcoming 60 Minutes segment airing Sunday, said Damon looked like he had nearly drowned on the ship sequences.
Nolan, who is also 55 and has been trying to make this movie for over 20 years, refused a director’s chair. He stayed in what Damon called “the foxhole” with the cast. Nolan called the shoot “an absolute nightmare, in all the right ways.” The film hits theaters July 17.
Damon and Nolan have kids the same age. Both connected to the part of the story where Odysseus misses his son’s entire childhood. Damon said he approached it like the last movie he’d ever make. He also called it the most rewarding experience of his career.
“Movies like this are not getting made anymore.”
0 Comments