It’s 2026, which means we’re drawing ever closer to the release of The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s massive film adaptation of Homer’s classic tale.
If the premise wasn’t already exciting enough, the film — which is due to release on July 17, mark your calendars — has maybe the most star-studded cast you could think of: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, and Lupita Nyong’o, just to name a few.
Throughout filming in 2025, details about the movie adaptation were shrouded in mystery. But one thing that wasn’t kept under wraps was Matt’s physical transformation.
Yep, we all remember where we were when those set photos of a shirtless Matt shooting with Zendaya dropped online last March. Unfortunately, we can’t include the pictures, but you can view them here. For context, Matt is starring as Odysseus, and Z is playing the Greek goddess Athena.
Matt’s ripped physique was the talk of the town for months to follow — even his BFF Ben Affleck had something to say about it, telling Entertainment Tonight: “I have to respect this, it’s a lot of hard work…but he’s getting it done.”
As we mentioned, there has been a lot of secrecy surrounding The Odyssey, but with the release date fast approaching, Matt has opened up about his physical transformation for the major role.
Appearing on the Jan. 7 episode of Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast, the 55-year-old fielded compliments from the hosts, who said they’d seen the photos of him looking “pretty yoked up” while on set.
“Yeah, I was in really good shape,” he replied. “I lost a lot of weight. [Christopher Nolan, the director] said he wanted me, like, lean but strong. It’s a weird thing.”
Providing some insight into his weight loss, Matt said he stopped eating gluten at his doctor’s advice. He combined this with “a lot of training and a really strict diet,” and eventually wound up weighing less than he had since his teens.
“I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie at 167 pounds,” he revealed. “I haven’t been that light since high school.”
Comparing the journey to Travis and Jason’s experiences as NFL athletes, Matt said it’s just “part of your job.” “It feels almost like a season, I would imagine, what that feels like for you guys where you’re preparing,” he said. “It’s just part of your day… It’s like you get really routinized about it and kind of build your day around all that stuff. That’s kind of the physical side of getting ready.”
And as for the current state of his diet, it sounds like the gluten-free lifestyle has stuck. “I’m done. I’m gluten-free everything,” he said. “I found a gluten-free beer. It’s been so long since I’ve had gluten, I can’t tell if it’s good or not. So that’s a good sign.”
