Matt Damon‘s biceps in “The Odyssey” are getting a lot of attention from viewers impressed with the actor’s physical transformation into Odysseys, but Damon said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that his stunt double should also be getting the acclaim. A female stunt double stood in for Damon during the scene where Odysseus’ men face off against the giant Laestrygonians, for instance.
“When we did the force perspective stuff with the Laestrygonians… there were these stuntmen who were all seven feet and then they got stunt men who were under five feet. My double was a woman, a female stunt performer who had the greatest arms I’ve ever seen. When she came into the catering tent, it was the first time I met her. I went up and hugged her and thanked her for all the work she put in.”
“There are those shots where you see these giants looming over me [and that’s her],” Damon added. “It was almost 100% my arms in the movie but you got to give it up where it’s due.”
Damon previously revealed on the “New Heights” podcast that he brought his weight down to 167 pounds while getting lean to play Odysseus.
“I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight,” Damon said. “[Nolan] wanted me lean but strong. Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten. I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Watch Damon’s full interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast below.