Working with someone as intense as Christopher Nolan means you expect your co-stars to bring their A-game. Still, during the filming of ‘The Odyssey,’ Matt Damon‘s preparation got so wild that it left Robert Pattinson floored.
The ‘Tenet‘ star was just hanging out in his dressing room when he overheard Damon’s bizarre pre-scene ritual that forced him to jokingly label the latter as a “complete psycho.” Here’s what happened on the set of Nolan’s adaptation of Homer‘s 12,100-line epic poem.
Matt Damon’s Wild Echoes Shocked Robert Pattinson
In a recent MTV interview, Pattinson, who played the villainous Antinous in the movie, admitted thinking that Damon had lost it when he heard the actor scream at the top of his lungs in his trailer right before a scene.
Related: From ‘The Odyssey’ To ‘Dune,’ Robert Pattinson Has the Perfect Motto For Playing Iconic Bad Guys
“There’s a thing which Matt did when we were shooting something, and he was in the trailer next to me, and he was making these noises in the trailer,” Pattinson revealed. His co-star Tom Holland knew the exact moment he was referring to and replied, “Oh, I heard that too.”
Unsurprisingly, Pattinson was shocked by the booming sounds coming from Damon’s dressing room. “I thought he was on the phone and I’m like, ‘He’s a complete psycho,’” he admitted. “He’s just like, screaming and screaming and screaming. And I’m like, ‘Either you’re having a really bad toilet experience or like…’”
After a few laughs, Pattinson revealed what really went down that moment. He explained that Damon was just “blowing his voice out” to make sure his character, Odysseus, would sound older in the movie. Even if it’s not a conventional way to acquire a new voice, this approach seems quite reasonable.
After all, the poem tells the multi-year story of Odysseus’s return to his family in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Having a more mature voice can really pave the way in bringing the emotional weight to the screenplay. But hey, this wasn’t the only Damon moment that surprised Pattinson.
Pattinson Doesn’t Think Antinous Is The Bad Guy
In the same interview, Pattinson recalled a scene in which Damon screamed in horror while tied to a ship. “Seeing him on the mast, I’m like, ‘Geez, you’re really, you’re taking years off of your life doing this,’” he said. “It’s impressive.”
In Case You Missed It: Why Robert Pattinson Tried To Distance Himself From ‘Twilight’ Movies Almost Immediately
Meanwhile, Pattinson, Holland, and Damon are joined in their adventure by the star-studded cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Himesh Patel, Zendaya, Elliot Page, and Benny Safdie. In Homer’s epic saga, Odysseus spends a decade struggling against monsters and angry gods to return home.
Back in Ithaca, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus have to resist arrogant suitors who overrun his palace. Pattinson, one of Penelope’s suitors, earlier admitted in an interview with TODAY that he was hesitant to accept the role when Nolan first approached him.
“My first thought always with a part is like, ‘I don’t know if I can do anything.’ But sometimes I get more scared if someone’s saying, just off the bat, ‘Do you want to do this thing?’” he said. “My imposter syndrome kicks in very, very hard.”
Despite his initial hesitation, Pattinson agreed to star in Nolan’s IMAX project. While his character is one of the movie’s main villains, Pattinson sees it differently. “It’s funny. I just think Antinous isn’t that bad,” he said.
“Like, I’m slightly worried now, because maybe if I watch it with an audience I’ll be, like, horrified. Because I watch it and I’m just like, ‘He’s just a guy.’” ‘The Odyssey’ arrived in theaters on July 17.
You Might Also Like To Read: “It Really Felt More Like an Expedition”: Matt Damon Reveals the Brutal Reality of Filming Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’
