The actorâs âbig fearâ when embarking on this journey (no pun intended), was getting hurt.
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Matt Damon was worried about one thing when embarking on The Odyssey journey (no pun intended) â and as a 55-year-old man, it wasnât that far-fetched.
âMy big fear when I embarked on this was just getting an injury,â Damon admitted during a Thursday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. âLike a dumb âguy our age injury.â Like throw your back out or any of those things that can happen to us just by getting out of bed.â
Damon knew that filming the movie would be âphysical,â but so were âthe logistics of getting to some of these locations.â The Good Will Hunting star made sure that he was not the one to âslow us downâ on set, even though he was âat the thresholdâ of an injury.
âWalking down that mountain every night. … The going up was fine. It was actually a nice way to start the day. A lot of us really liked it,â Damon said. âFor anybody who hikes, itâs always harder coming down. I felt a tweak in my left knee, like, a week in, and I was really really mindful.â
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If something were to happen with his knee, there was âno option but to shut the movie down,â the actor said. âThereâs no helicopter that can bring you down because itâs nighttime, they canât fly. Thereâs no other way to get down but to walk.â
Damon has spoken in several interviews about going completely gluten-free to prepare for the role in Christopher Nolanâs epic. The paparazzi photos of his abs prove that it really worked for him.
The Oppenheimer alum said it was rewarding knowing that he âgot through something that was this arduousâ at this stage of his career.
âI can live an adventurous life and live it fully,â Damon said. âThatâs what Iâd love to keep doing.â
Sports analyst Dan Patrick asked Damon whose physique heâd rather have â Odysseus, Jason Bourne or Francois Pienaar, whom he played in 2009âs Invictus.
âThis one,â Damon said, referring to his body from The Odyssey. The actor said heâs going to try to keep it âas much as I can.â (Damon previously revealed that he was at his lowest weight in decades when shooting the film.)
âItâs kind of a full-time job,â he added. âI donât want to be that focused on [it]. I have other things that I love to do, and a life to live.â
The Odyssey is in theaters now. For more from Damon on The Dan Patrick Show, watch the video below.


