One of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year is now out, “The Odyssey.” Based on the ancient Greek epic poem, the movie stars a long roster of A-listers. But one of its stars is a young boy from the Capital Region. Thirteen-year-old Mason Cufari, from Rotterdam, plays young Sinon.
At 13, Mason Cufari loves soccer, video games, and oh yeah…acting with Matt Damon in Italy on the set of “The Odyssey.”
Mason said the workdays could be physically demanding, including long hikes to reach filming locations.
“Every single day that we had to film, we’d have to walk up this mountain and it took like, for me it took like 45 minutes, but for my mom it took her like two hours,” Mason said.
His mother, Dusty Cufari, said some of the biggest names in Hollywood were making the same climb. “I mean Chris Nolan was walking up the mountain with us. You know, they were so…Tom Holland too was walking up the mountain,” she said.
For Mason, being around famous actors and filmmakers is just another day at “the office.” “I just see them as normal people, not like big time celebrities,” he said.
“The Odyssey” is the first feature-length film shot entirely on 70-millimeter IMAX cameras. “It was pretty intense because you can only shoot in three-minute increments with the IMAX camera and I mean it’s pretty much you either do it right the first time or you’re wasting all of this like expensive film,” he said.
Mason’s acting career began early. His family said he started acting when he was three years old after Dusty heard about a casting call in Saratoga for a Dollar Tree ad. Mason didn’t get that job, but it led to him getting an agent, and he continued building his resume. He later appeared in an episode of “Fallout” with screenwriter and producer Jonathan Nolan, then auditioned in Los Angeles for Jonathan Nolan’s brother, Christopher Nolan, for his next movie. Mason didn’t think the audition went well, but the family soon got the call that he had been cast.
Mason’s father, Matt Cufari, described the moment he learned the news. “Well I was with him when he got the call, when I was told by the wife to pull over and we got big news. And I was like oh my gosh, this is gonna be…and I cried for him, I did. I was like ‘Oh buddy this is it, this is it,’” he said.
Mason and his mom traveled to Italy last April for a week of shooting. “And one of the days it started raining like as we were going out there, and I was in like these sandals that are so old, and I would almost slip because we’re going down the rocky mountain and all the rocks are so slippery, and I have like mud all over my feet,” he said.
He also shared one of his favorite behind-the-scenes memories, involving actor John Leguizamo. “In the place that our costumes were, there was a bunch of tents and I was in there with Matt Damon and John Leguizamo and we would hear John sing while he was changing,” Mason said.
Mason’s future seems bright, but for now, he will continue to play soccer and enjoy this moment. “I think people will enjoy it just based off of who’s in it and like what it’s about,” he said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source cbs6albany.com ’
