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Matt Damon says not sleeping for days on The Odyssey worked in his favour: “[Odysseus] probably didn’t sleep last night”
Matt Damon says he was awake for about 24 hours before filming a demanding scene in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and remained without sleep for around 36 hours by the end of the day. He believes the exhaustion helped him portray Odysseus, a character worn down by danger and the search for safety.
Damon told GQ that he went through similar sleepless stretches two or three times during filming. The scene with Samantha Morton appears to be the tense encounter between Odysseus and Circe, after the crew’s men are turned into pigs. Shot in locations around the world, the film was a physically demanding undertaking; Damon said he was grateful to make it at this point in his career.
In short
- Damon filmed a major scene after about 24 hours without sleep.
- He said exhaustion suited Odysseus’s weary state.
- The Odyssey was filmed at locations around the world.
Explained simply
The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem about Odysseus, a king trying to get home after the Trojan War. His journey takes years and exposes him and his crew to dangers, strange beings and tests of endurance.
One episode involves Circe, a powerful enchantress who turns some of Odysseus’s men into pigs. The story has been retold many times, and Christopher Nolan’s film adapts it with Matt Damon as Odysseus and Samantha Morton as Circe.
Odysseus’s long struggle to return home is central to the tale, making exhaustion and the search for safety part of the character’s situation. The film’s demanding scenes draw on that background.