{"id":842987,"date":"2026-08-02T19:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842987\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T19:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:31:08","slug":"the-greatest-arms-ive-ever-seen-matt-damons-muscular-female-stunt-double-devyn-dalton-the-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842987\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The greatest arms I\u2019ve ever seen\u2019: Matt Damon\u2019s muscular female stunt double Devyn Dalton | The Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 35-year-old stuntwoman is one of the great unsung heroes of Christopher Nolan\u2019s new blockbuster The Odyssey<\/a> \u2013 standing in for Matt Damon and displaying what the actor called \u201cthe greatest arms I\u2019ve ever seen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Canadian Devyn Dalton was the Hollywood star\u2019s stunt double in a pivotal scene in the film where Odysseus (Damon) and his men are confronted by the Laestrygonians, giant armoured cannibals.<\/p>\n

In order to make Damon and his crew appear dwarfed by the group of goliaths, the actors doing stunts needed to be small. Dalton is 4ft 6in (137cm) and her rippling, muscular arms were perfect to represent Damon\u2019s own biceps.<\/p>\n

Matt Damon \u2013 or Devyn Dalton \u2013 faces the giant Laestrygonians. Photograph: Landmark Media\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Dalton has \u201cthe greatest arms I\u2019ve ever seen\u201d, said Damon, speaking to podcaster Josh Horowitz on his show Happy Sad Confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing my arms impressed Matt was honestly pretty special,\u201d Dalton told the Guardian. \u201cHis shoutout in the press completely caught me by surprise \u2026 I\u2019ll always appreciate that he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalton said she had known she wanted to tell stories since she was a child, inventing characters and costumes and putting on shows for her family.<\/p>\n

She started out acting professionally at nine years old, which gradually led her into stunt performing \u2013 a different way of telling those tales: through the body, through her own strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrate men who build careers around being powerful \u2026 so why shouldn\u2019t women be celebrated for that too?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dalton (left) filming in Scotland. Photograph: @devyn.dalton\/Instagram<\/p>\n

After Damon made the comments in his press tour for The Odyssey, the big-screen depiction of Homer\u2019s epic Greek poem that has become a huge hit for Nolan and sparked endless media coverage<\/a>, Dalton said her phone \u201cabsolutely exploded\u201d.<\/p>\n

She is currently filming a project in New Zealand and was not expecting to receive global attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently my biceps have their own fanclub right now, which definitely wasn\u2019t on my 2026 prediction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Devyn Dalto. Photograph: Scott Hemenway<\/p>\n

She said she was cast in the role through the network of professional representatives and stunt coordinators rather than any open casting call.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I found out I booked it, I was genuinely so excited and incredibly grateful. It\u2019s one of those moments where years of hard work and persistence suddenly feels worthwhile,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dalton flew to Scotland<\/a> to film and she said it was a continuous reminder of just how many people it takes to put together a production like The Odyssey. \u201cWhat audiences see for a few minutes often represents months of preparation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Dalton said she trained hard for the role, refining her regular regime of exercises, a combination of muay thai, jiu-jitsu, dance, yoga and strength-based workouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the responsibility very seriously,\u201d she said. That\u2019s why Damon\u2019s shoutout made her feel the training truly paid off. Meeting him on set, Dalton said that \u201che\u2019s every bit as genuine, kind and generous as you\u2019d hope\u201d.<\/p>\n

Stunt performing is actually an exercise in being extremely well rehearsed and prepared, rather than engaging in anything dangerous or scary, she said. \u201cThe best stunt performers are very aware of risk \u2026 so everything can be performed as safely as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some audiences have been vocal online that stuntwomen in particular should be celebrated more and recognised for their physical prowess and performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to represent strong women \u2026 I\u2019m passionate about encouraging more people, especially young women, to realise there isn\u2019t just one path into this industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope more young girls grow up believing they never have to choose between being strong and being themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next, Dalton said she would love to lead in a film or series as a starring actor \u2013 who of course could do her own stunts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAudiences are hungry for new faces \u2026 I\u2019d love to show what I\u2019m capable of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 35-year-old stuntwoman is one of the great unsung heroes of Christopher Nolan\u2019s new blockbuster The Odyssey \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":["post-842987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}