Matt Damon has revealed there’s one thing he’ll never do again for a movie role. The 55-year-old actor has reflected on the commitment he’s shown for certain films, and for The Odyssey he found himself dropping to 167 pounds, which is the same amount he weighed during high school.
He told PEOPLE magazine, “I didn’t change it in an unhealthy way.” Damon was happy to shed the weight to play King Odysseus, but he would have refused to do “the opposite” at this stage.
© Pierre MoutonMatt Damon at THE ODYSSEY Paris Photocall at Trocadero Square on July 07, 2026 in Paris
He added, “I think if I had done the opposite and put weight on, that would have been dangerous and it’s not something I’ll do anymore. I was happy to do it earlier in my life.”
Matt Damon’s Odyssey fitness
Damon gave up gluten and “other things” to play Odysseus in the film adaptation of Homer’s epic.
He explained, “It was more about just getting really, really physically fit, which just really involves changing your diet, just a whole lifestyle change. “You have to just be very, very intentional about everything you’re putting in your body.”
© Stephane Cardinale – CorbisMatt Damon at the “The Odyssey” Paris Premiere
Thankfully, he was able to turn to the cast and crew for inspiration during filming, which took place across Scotland, Italy, Morocco, Greece and Iceland.
He revealed that everyone on set was “completely maxing out and straining against what they thought was possible” in the name of cinema.
© Kevin MazurZendaya and Matt Damon at the premiere of “The Odyssey” in NYC
The Odyssey was Damon’s “hardest movie” ever
Damon recently admitted he didn’t initially believe Christopher Nolan when the director warned him about the task awaiting him. Speaking on Sunday Sitdown with Willie Giest, he said, “[Nolan] was like, ‘This movie’s gonna be hard.’ And I looked at him like, ‘I’ve made, I don’t know, 80 movies.'”
He continued, “And he goes, ‘No. This movie’s gonna be really hard.’ He, to his credit, was not lying. It was definitely the hardest movie I’ve ever done just because it was so ambitious, just because what he was trying to do.”
© Theo WargoMatt Damon, Christopher Nolan, and Anne Hathaway at “The Odyssey” New York Premiere
Adding, “the prep and all that I had to do as a guy in his 50s, that was its own challenge. That was my own cross to bear, away from everybody.”
Damon thought “bare biceps” were behind him
Nolan has also revealed how Damon’s tattoo caused some issues, as he had to cover up everyone’s inkings – and he never expected his leading man to be among them.
The actor has a “tasteful” inking of wife Luciana‘s name along with their daughters Alexia, 27, Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15, in cursive at the top of his arm.
© Jamie McCarthyLuciana Barroso, Matt Damon and Isabella Damon at “The Odyssey” New York Premiere
However, Nolan told the Good Hang podcast, “He said to me, ‘Well, if I’m to be perfectly honest, I thought my bare bicep days were over.’ And I said, ‘Okay. Fair enough. The truth is, I think they’re just beginning.’”
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