Jon Bernthal’s ‘The Odyssey’ Shoot Sounds Brutal After He Was Left Shivering Inside the Trojan Horse
Christopher Nolan is known for pushing his actors into intense situations to create realistic performances, and Jon Bernthal’s experience filming The Odyssey appears to be one of the strongest examples yet.
During production of the epic Greek adventure, Bernthal faced extremely difficult conditions while shooting the famous Trojan Horse sequence. According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor spent part of the scene inside the giant wooden horse while it was partially submerged in water.
The scene shows Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, and his Greek soldiers hiding inside the Trojan Horse as they prepare to enter Troy. Bernthal plays Menelaus, the King of Sparta, and was among the warriors packed inside the massive structure. However, the filming conditions were far from comfortable.
Bernthal ended up in the worst position among the cast, standing in water that reached almost to his neck. The water was supposed to be heated, but when cameras started rolling in the Moroccan desert, it was unexpectedly freezing cold. Within minutes, Bernthal was reportedly shaking from the temperature.
Even Christopher Nolan, a filmmaker famous for avoiding easy solutions and pushing for practical filmmaking, noticed how difficult the situation was becoming. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan offered to remove Bernthal from the water and stop the scene. But Bernthal refused. The actor reportedly shouted, “You ain’t breaking me, Chris. There’s nothing you can do to break me.”
Nolan continued filming, and Bernthal stayed in the freezing water to complete the sequence.
The moment had a major impact on the rest of the cast. Matt Damon later explained that watching Bernthal push through the challenge changed the mindset of everyone involved in the production.
“That was the first example of somebody pushing past what they thought they could do. Nobody in that horse was ever going to complain for the next five months about anything because of what we saw,” Damon told The Hollywood Reporter.
For Damon, the scene became a turning point during the long shoot. He said Bernthal’s determination created a standard for the entire cast and showed everyone the level of commitment needed for Nolan’s massive production.
Bernthal’s approach is something that many of his longtime collaborators have recognized throughout his career. The actor has built a reputation for giving everything to his roles, whether he is playing a superhero, a soldier, or a dramatic character.
Christopher Nolan also praised Bernthal’s dedication, explaining that the actor always searches for every possible detail within a role.
“He really wants to know that he’s lifted every rock. He examines every possibility for the character and what he could bring to it,” Nolan said.
Would you go through extreme conditions for a major movie role like Jon Bernthal did in The Odyssey?
The Trojan Horse scene is just one example of the scale behind The Odyssey. The movie required months of filming across multiple locations, with Nolan once again focusing on practical effects and real environments instead of relying heavily on digital production.
For Bernthal, the experience represents exactly the kind of challenge he looks for as an actor. He has often spoken about wanting to take risks and avoid playing things safe.
“I want to be a home-run hitter — I want to take big swings, I don’t want to ever be afraid of striking out,” Bernthal said.
With The Odyssey now arriving as one of Nolan’s biggest productions ever, stories like Bernthal’s freezing Trojan Horse scene highlight the extreme effort that went into bringing the ancient epic to life.
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