Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has stunned critics, wowed audiences and dominated the box office on its opening weekend, raking in a massive $264million as an impressively ambitious adaptation of the famed ancient Greek epic attributed to the poet Homer.
However, it’s also been dragged into the centre of a tiresome culture war by the likes of Elon Musk and his followers on X, who have complained about the movie’s inaccuracies (without seeing it), as well as declaring Nolan a ‘coward’ who is ‘p***ing on Homer’s grave’ with some of his casting choices.
These include Black actress and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o portraying Helen of Troy, famed as the most beautiful woman in the world, instead of a white woman, and questioning the masculinity of trans star Elliot Page’s role in the film too – incorrectly reporting him to be famed Greek warrior Achilles.
Tedious arguments have included that the acclaimed director is simply awards-hungry and chasing the fulfilment of diversity casting requirements, among much worse, rather than thinking that Nolan’s choices could have been considered in any way or important contextually to his interpretation.
Given this, leading man Matt Damon – who plays the wily hero of the tale, Odysseus – has potentially stepped into the fray with an unexpected revelation that challenges those that insist on strict gender roles.
While accepting praise for his physique in the film, for which the 55-year-old dropped from 200lbs to 167lbs thanks to intense training and a gluten-free diet he has kept, the Good Will Hunting star revealed that his stunt double in one scene had actually been a woman.
And even more so, while fans have been impressed by his biceps – it was her who had, in his mind, ‘the greatest arms I’ve ever seen’.
‘When we did the forced perspective stuff of the Laestrygonians, there were these kind of stuntmen who were all seven feet,’ Damon explained to Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Hororowitz.
The Laestrygonians are a tribe of man-eating giants, who Odysseus and his men come across during their often-perilous decade-long journey home to Ithaca.
In Nolan’s movie they make a fearsome impression in full-body armour, towering over the humans – and, as a filmmaker known for his preference for in-camera effects over CGI, Nolan wanted to emphasise the size difference.
Damon continued: ‘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.’
The actor was keen to give stunt performer Devyn Dalton, who flew to Scotland to film those scenes, her due praise.
‘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. And so there are those shots in the movie where you see these giants looming over me and (that’s her).’
He then quipped: ‘It was almost a hundred percent my arms in the movie – but you’ve got to give it up where it’s due.’
Devyn shared a post to Instagram on Monday night, confirming her role in the film.
The actor and stunt performer, who has also appeared in horror movie Weapons, Thunderbolts and TV show The Last of Us wrote: ‘No spoilers just yet, but I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of the Laestrygonian battle. Stunt doubling the incredible @matt_damon_official.
‘An epic team effort. We worked hard, shared plenty of laughs, and created memories I’ll never forget.’
The Odyssey is in cinemas now.