Matt Damon has broken his silence about the responsibility that comes alongside being the leading actor in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
Part of what makes The Odyssey such a fascinating adventure for Nolan is the scope of the journey that the characters go on. Audiences are watching a love story unfold and quickly get separated between Odysseus and Penelope (Anne Hathaway). Odysseus spends most of his journey from the battle of Troy to home in Ithaca trying to just make it home to Penelope and their son, Telemachus (Tom Holland). But to make that love and desire to get home come across throughout The Odyssey’s almost 3-hour runtime, Damon and Hathaway had to make the few scenes with Odysseus and Penelope pop.
When CBR’s Rachel Leishman spoke with them at the junket for The Odyssey, she asked both Damon and Hathaway how they brought that love story to life when the two characters are rarely together. For Damon, it was all about the power of their bond.
We actually talked about that a lot. And it was because of the way the story works, and the way this movie works, that it all comes to a head when they finally are together. And so the movie really depended on – is really resting on – that relationship, and the power of that bond. It was in my mind through every single scene that I played.
Anne Hathaway Plays A Smart and Honest Penelope In The Odyssey
Penelope and Odysseus’ love story is strong enough that even after twenty years without her husband, she still holds out hope. Many suitors are waiting for her to finally be willing to take another husband, and she is waiting both for Odysseus to come back and for Telemachus to be of age to take the title of King of Ithaca. Without a believable love story, it would feel like another movie where Damon is just trying to get home. Hathaway’s interpretation of Penelope elevates the story and makes his struggles that much harder because you can see him fighting for his family.
Damon and Hathaway joked a bit about not being together, Damon saying it was “harder” when he was in scenes with Hathaway, which she joked that he “pulled through.” Damon even joked that it was “an odyssey” in itself. Damon did say that his need to get back to Penelope drove him back home even when things were looking dire for Odysseus. “I think it’s underneath absolutely everything that happens in the movie for him,” he said. Hathaway talked about why Penelope still believes in her husband after all this time.
For [Penelope], I think that she missed having her person that she could really talk to. I think that her position, just being a woman, period… especially at that time period, there were so many layers of masks that she always had to communicate through. I just think that they were so open with each other in a way that they, I mean, at least she couldn’t be with everybody else. She could show him all of who she was, the depth of her intelligence, that her cunning and strategy matched his. I think that she missed her love, but she also just missed her person.
It is a common part of Greek Mythology and Homer’s work to have a tragic hero desperate to get home. Whether it be a love story like this or the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, these stories have helped shape moviemaking since the dawning of storytelling.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.
Release Date
July 17, 2026
Runtime
172 Minutes
