Matt Damon is absolutely devoted to his latest role. The Bourne Ultimatum alum has undergone a physical transformation for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which the Boston native is currently filming in Favignana, Italy, alongside costar Zendaya.
Indeed, the 54-year-old-who is set to play Odysseus in the Greek myth film-was channeling his inner Poseidon by sporting washboard abs, as well as a very godly beard, which he first debuted in early March at SXSW festival. He also sported only a pair of brown Hellenistic period-inspired capri pants. While shooting a scene by the water, Matt was joined by his castmate, Zendaya-who is set to play Goddess of Wisdom Athena-wearing a long cream-colored dress and her hair in a bun with a braid across the back. The actors meant business as they embraced their characters amid other Odyssey crew members. And Matt’s longtime buddy Ben Affleck recently gave insight into just how hard the actor has pushed himself to gain his new physique.
“He’s going off to do this Chris Nolan movie and doing a lot of stunt rehearsal,” Ben reflected while discussing stunts in a March 25 GQ profile. “It was kind of like, ‘Boy, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?’ Where you really have to go learn the fights-this is Bourne Identity kind of territory.” But the Good Will Hunting actor-who shares daughters Alexia, 25, Isabella, 18, Gia, 16 and Stella, 14 with wife Luciana Damon-has lamented the experience of doing stunts himself before. After all, he has previously advised against pursuing the training it takes for him to get in shape for action-driven roles like Jason Bourne.
“Unless it’s your job, three hours a day in the gym, or two hours and then a long run later… or a long hike with a weight vest on… it just sucks,” Matt told Total Film in 2017. “And then it’s the diet where you’re not really eating anything you want to eat. You’re not having that glass of wine at the end of the day… it’s pretty lame.”