Matt Damon admits he had to break his family rule filming The Odyssey

Matt Damon prioritizes family time despite his demanding career, though filming The Odyssey presented unique challenges.

The 55-year-old portrays the iconic Greek king Odysseus in the latest Christopher Nolan production. Zendaya, Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway also feature in the film, set to premiere in theaters on July 17. The Odyssey required 91 days of filming spread across six months, with significant portions shot on open water to authentically capture Homer's classic tale.

This forced Matt to endure extended separations from his family, who recently accompanied him to the film's London premiere. Meanwhile, Matt has shared his "non-negotiable" when it comes to his marriage.

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During promotional activities, Matt appeared on the Today show for a conversation with Craig Melvin. The host commented, "Speaking of your four daughters, it was great to see you guys on the red carpet, I think it was the overseas premiere.", reports the Irish Star.

"And you've been here over the years talking about various films and projects. I do get the sense from you though that this one is special, it's more special perhaps to a certain extent."

Matt responded, "It just took more. And it took more out of our family."

He continued, "We've always had a two week rule. This was the first time that we ever had to violate it.

"There was, like, stretches of three-and-a-half weeks and we were just away from each other. So it was a big sacrifice for them and it was hard on us and I'm just so proud of the movie, but I'm so proud of them for really encouraging me."

Matt went on to praise his family, saying, "I feel like my whole professional life built up to this experience and they were really on board with me doing it. And I love them for that."

During the interview, Matt admitted The Odyssey was "the hardest" film for him to act in "by far." He explained, "Nothing comes close. Because Chris [Nolan] does everything in camera, it's all practical.

"And we shot all on IMAX, which has never been done before, so the effort that it took from thousands of people, I mean, the crew. I have never seen more asked of a crew and more inspiration drawn from one another, watching each other."

Matt added, "You know, everyone's very experienced on this movie. So we could look over at other departments and go, 'Man, I've never seen that department do that before.' And that was just kind of across the board. So, the feeling it built was this incredible kind of team ethos."

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