Empire Magazine: First Look at Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey'

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Nolan’s Oppenheimer follow-up casts Damon as Odysseus, in a grand-scale retelling of Homer’s epic poem – charting his decade-long journey home after the Trojan war. “I can say, without hyperbole, that it was the best experience of my career,” the actor enthuses. It was a massive production, spanning vast swathes of the globe, open oceans, thousands of extras, and gigantic props. Including an actual Trojan horse. “I saw the horse on the beach and I was just like, ‘frick,’” Damon says. “It was just so cool.”

Through it all, on his third Christopher Nolan movie (after Interstellar and Oppenheimer), he helped lead the way on a process that was part thorough planning, part going wherever the movie took them. “We were shooting that [Trojan horse] stuff next week, so I go, ‘How are you going to do it?’ And [Nolan] goes, ‘I don’t know. We’ll just get in there and figure it out.’”

Of course, in the screenplay – penned by Nolan himself – it was abundantly clear what feats would belie Odysseus, and therefore Damon himself. “If you’re going to have an existential crisis as you pass the Sirens and you’re lashed to a mast, it’s there,” he says. “If it says you’re running for your life from a Cyclops, you’re going to run for your life. Chris doesn’t hide the ball.” That ball is rapidly approaching; prepare for Christopher Nolan’s biggest ever swing.

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