Matt Damon knew playing Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey‘ would demand serious physical work, but one smaller issue caught Christopher Nolan completely off guard.
During an early wardrobe fitting, the director discovered something on Damon’s arm that created an unexpected problem for a huge period epic, and the actor’s explanation left Nolan laughing.
Christopher Nolan Was Not Ready For Matt Damon’s Tattoo
Christopher Nolan recently shared the story during a visit to Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast. The director explained that tattoos had already become a major headache because many younger actors playing Odysseus’ crew arrived with ink that needed to be hidden.
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“I had a moment with him at his first wardrobe fitting because we’d be fitting all of the supporting cast — all the guys who play his crew and some younger actors and everything — and they all come in and they’ve all got tattoos,” Nolan recounted. “Which is a nightmare for a period film. It means hours of make-up. You have to cover all that up and then put the costume on — and then rain and wind and the costume will rub it away.”
Nolan expected Matt Damon to be different. Instead, the actor removed his shirt during the fitting and revealed another tattoo. “He takes his shirt off at the fitting, and he’s got a f—ing tattoo,” Nolan complained. “And I was like, ‘Not you as well.’ Like, what?”
Nolan described Damon’s tattoo as “tasteful.” The cursive design includes the names of his four children, daughters Alexia, Isabella, Gia, and Stella, along with “Lucy,” a tribute to his wife, Luciana. Damon also had a simple reason for assuming the tattoo would never become a movie problem.
“He said to me, ‘Well, if I’m to be perfectly honest, I thought my bare bicep days were over,’” the director recalled with a chuckle. “And I said, ‘Okay. Fair enough. The truth is, I think they’re just beginning.’” Damon eventually spent “a little extra time in the chair” during the months-long shoot.
Matt Damon Had To Completely Change His Life For ‘The Odyssey’ Role
Covering the tattoo turned out to be a minor concern compared with the physical preparation Damon faced. The actor told Poehler that becoming Odysseus required a “complete lifestyle change.” He built a demanding workout routine and changed his diet as he prepared to lead the epic.
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“There’s no planning it,” Damon said. “Any other time I tried to do something like that, it was always like, timing my workouts and things… And this was like, no. No. Just everything. Just put your foot on the gas, and that’s it. And that’s the only way to do it.”
Nolan, meanwhile, believes the effort paid off because Damon arrived at exactly the right stage of his career for Odysseus. “He’s in exactly the right place in his time of life,” Nolan said. Asked how he chose Damon, the filmmaker explained, “I actually don’t think about actors when I’m writing. I try not to. I try to really just live through the characters in the writing process, then come out the other side and go. ‘How is this gonna work? Who are we getting for this?’ And Matt immediately popped into my head.”
The Odyssey also gave Nolan plenty of other challenges beyond Damon’s tattoo. The production involved a sprawling cast, shoots across different parts of the world, the huge scale of the classic story, and changing technology. Still, excitement around the film has continued to grow.
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