Matt Damon reveals his strict diet for ripped ‘Odyssey’ look that got him back to ‘high school weight’

Matt Damon tackled his end goal flawlessly.

The actor, 55, opened up about cutting down his weight for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Greek epic “The Odyssey,” while on Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast Wednesday.

The retired athlete, 38, told the Hollywood vet that he looked “pretty yoked up” in set photos circulating online.

“Yeah, I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight,” Damon replied, before adding that Nolan, 55, “said he wanted me like lean but strong. It’s a weird thing.”

“I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten. I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. and I did that whole movie at 167 pounds,” confessed the “Downsizing” star. “I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.” 

For Damon, his trainer made the mission an easy one.

“It’s just having kind of a clear goal and setting it,” said the Oscar winner.

Damon compared the prep to Jason and Travis, 36, training in the NFL.

“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 where you’re preparing,” continued the writer. “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.” 

These days, Damon has yet to return to his old eating habits.

“I’m done. I’m gluten-free everything. I found a gluten-free beer,” he shared. “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.” 

Nolan’s action feature, which is about Homer’s ancient Greek poem, “The Odyssey,” also stars Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron.

In March, pictures of Damon shooting in Favignana, Italy surfaced.

The star went shirtless, sporting a chiseled physique, including a six pack, tan pants and a scruffy grey beard.

At the time, Damon was photographed with Zendaya, 29, on a rocky hillside.

Last month, Universal Pictures dropped a teaser for the movie.

They first confirmed the project in December 2024 on X, writing, “Christopher Nolan’s next film ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.”

“The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026,” the post concluded.

When the studio shared a first look to Instagram in early 2025, with Damon wearing armor, fans quickly flocked to the comments section.

“The journey begins! Can’t wait to see more of the cast!” one fan wrote, while another added, “I AM SO GLAD DAMON IS PLAYING THE LEAD.”

But not everyone was thrilled about the casting choice, with a third social media user writing, “No real ‘Greeks’ cast in a movie about Ancient Greece … very very very disappointing.”

“As a Greek this is so disappointing on all levels. Not a single Greek cast member in sight, the movie won’t film at all in any parts of Greece. Very upsetting considering Nolan is known for his authenticity,” another follower explained.

“Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theaters July 17, 2026,” the post’s caption read.

Meanwhile, Damon is no stranger to physical transformations throughout his career.

The action star previously worked with trainer Jason Walsh for 2016’s “Jason Bourne.”

Damon did 100 sit-ups, 300 push-ups, 50 squats and 50 squat jumps daily.

“He loves challenges,” Walsh told Men’s Health at the time. “We got to the point where we were doing 100 pull-ups two or three times a week. We’d see how many sets it takes to get 100. Once you lose some of that excess weight, pull-ups get a lot easier. He was doing 30-some pull-ups per set.”

“My biggest worry was him breaking,” he added. “Keeping him injury-free for two straight years, doing action films, was the biggest accomplishment.”