NEED TO KNOW
Matt Damon revealed the first person he called after receiving the news that he had booked Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s new film
Tom Holland, Damon’s on-screen son, told his now-wife Zendaya about the happy news first, he said
The adaptation of Homer’s classic epic poem debuted in theaters on July 17
Matt Damon is opening up about his loved ones’ giddy response to his casting in The Odyssey.
The Odyssey actor, 55, shed some light on his first glorious moments after securing his role as Odysseus in the film, which debuted in theaters July 17. Alongside his costar Tom Holland (who plays his son Telemachus, on screen) during an appearance on 100 Questions with Tom Simons, Damon revealed the first person he wanted to share the news with.
“So I immediately called my wife,” Damon recalled, but Luciana Damon — a producer and his partner of over 20 years — was in a Zoom meeting and couldn’t pick up the phone.
His next call? His longtime friend and fellow A-list actor, of course.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in April 2026 (stock image).Credit: Drew Altizer Photography/Shutterstock
“I called Ben Affleck,” Damon continued. When Simons asked how the Gone Girl star reacted to the news, Damon added, “Oh, he freaked out. I was on the phone with him for about a half an hour.”
Moments after hopping off the phone with Affleck, Damon received a text from his wife. “Why didn’t you tell me first?” As it turns out, Affleck and Luciana were in the same building at the time, and the actor had run into the producer’s office to share the good news in person.
Matt Damon as Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey’Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
Holland said he told his now-wife Zendaya first about his new role. He knew that Christopher Nolan, the film’s director, was one of Zendaya’s favorites, and that she greatly admired a past project of his, Interstellar, too.
“I was just through the roof with excitement,” Holland recalled. “She was the first person I told.”
Zendaya also earned her spot in The Odyssey, stepping into the role of Athena in the screen adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Alongside Holland and Damon, the star-studded cast also includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Elliot Page as Sinon, Lupita Nyong’o as Clytemnestra, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Mia Goth as Mélantho and John Leguizamo as Eumaeus.
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“After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens and Calypso along the way,” the film’s synopsis reads.
The Odyssey is playing in theaters now.
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