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Matt Damon's muscles have drawn considerable attention in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. However, in a twist, the 55-year-old actor recently claimed that one scene showcasing his character's muscles was actually performed by a female stunt double named Devyn Dalton.
Matt himself dropped from 200lbs to 167lbs for the role and maintained a strict diet and workout routine for 6 months. "When we did the forced perspective stuff of the Laestrygonians, there were these kinds of stuntmen who were all seven feet," the actor told Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz in a recent interview.
The Laestrygonians are a tribe of man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus and his crew during their journey home to Ithaca. To properly show the difference between the size of the giants and Odysseus, Christopher Nolan used a female stunt double for Matt. The actor also recently admitted to breaking a family rule while filming the epic action fantasy film.
• Matt Damon admits he had to break his family rule filming The Odyssey
• Matt Damon draws the line at one body change he says is too dangerous to repeat
"And then they got stuntmen who were under five feet, and so my double was a woman, a female stunt performer who had the greatest arms I've ever seen," Matt said.
Matt fondly recalled meeting Devyn for the first time.
"When she came into the catering tent, it was the first time I met her. I went up, and I hugged her, and I thanked her for all the work she'd put in," he said on the podcast.
"And so there are those shots in the movie where you see these giants looming over me and (that's her)."
"So it was almost 100 percent my arms in the movie, but you gotta give it up where it's due," he added.
Devyn shared a post on Instagram in honor of the film, calling her stint on The Odyssey "an adventure."
"Scottish Highlands. The Odyssey. What an adventure. No spoilers just yet, but I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of the Laestrygonian battle. Stunt doubling the incredible @matt_damon_official," she wrote.
"An epic team effort. We worked hard, shared plenty of laughs, and created memories I'll never forget. The best part of this job is getting to venture to new places and meet amazing people along the way."
Matt also recently reflected on the lifestyle tweaks he made to become the Greek King of Ithaca.
"It was more about just getting really, really physically fit, which just really involves changing your diet, just a whole lifestyle change," he said in his People cover story.
"You have to just be very, very intentional about everything you're putting in your body."
Matt also gave up gluten, among other things, but claimed he "didn't change it in an unhealthy way."
"I think if I had done the opposite and put weight on, that would have been dangerous, and it's not something I'll do anymore. I was happy to do it earlier in my life," he said.
