Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland Were Worried After Hearing Matt Damon Screaming on ‘The Odyssey’ Set
Matt Damon went all in for his role as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and his intense preparation was so unusual that it left some of his co-stars wondering if something was wrong.
According to Robert Pattinson, there were moments on the set when he and Tom Holland heard Damon screaming repeatedly from inside his trailer. At first, Pattinson had no idea what was happening and thought something serious might be going on.
The actor explained during an MTV U.K. interview that Damon’s loud vocal exercises sounded alarming because of how intense they were.
“Matt was in the trailer next to me and he was making these noises,” Pattinson said. “He is such a nice guy … I thought he was on the phone and I thought he was a complete psycho. He was just screaming and screaming and screaming.”
Pattinson even joked that he wondered if Damon was having some kind of personal problem inside the trailer. But the truth was much more focused on the movie. Damon was training his voice to make himself sound older and more damaged for his role as Odysseus, a warrior returning home after years of battle.
“He was just blowing his voice out just to sound older,” Pattinson explained. “Like, really, you’re taking years off your life by doing this.”
Tom Holland also noticed Damon’s unusual preparation and praised the commitment behind it. The two actors worked together on The Odyssey, with Holland playing Telemachus, the son of Odysseus.
Damon’s transformation for the role was not limited to his voice. The actor also went through major physical changes to portray the legendary Greek king. During an appearance on the New Heights podcast, Damon revealed that he followed a strict diet and training routine to become much leaner for the film.
“I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong,” Damon said. “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.”
The actor also explained that the process required a lot of discipline, including changes to his diet and daily routine.
Damon’s dedication is not unusual when it comes to his past roles. Throughout his career, he has changed his body for different characters, including gaining around 30 pounds for Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! in 2009.
For that role, Damon took a completely different approach. He previously told Entertainment Weekly that he gained weight by eating large amounts of food and drinking dark beer.
“Between meals on set, I’d eat a No. 1 Value Meal at McDonald’s and then Doritos on top of it. It was absolute heaven,” Damon said at the time.
With The Odyssey, however, Damon took the opposite route, pushing himself through intense workouts, strict eating habits and demanding vocal preparation to capture the exhaustion of a warrior who has spent years fighting.
What do you think of Matt Damon’s intense preparation for The Odyssey?
Christopher Nolan’s epic has brought together a huge cast, including Damon, Pattinson, Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron. The film marks Nolan’s first major project after the success of Oppenheimer and continues his reputation for creating massive practical productions.
Damon’s unusual screaming routine may have confused his co-stars at first, but it shows the level of commitment that went into creating one of the most anticipated films of the year. The Odyssey arrives in theaters from Universal Pictures on July 17.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!
