Matt Damon slimmed down to ‘high school’ weight for ‘The Odyssey’ movie role

Matt Damon revealed how he got down to his “high school” weight to portray the legendary Greek hero Odysseus in his highly anticipated movie “The Odyssey.”

The 55-year-old actor reunited with director Christopher Nolan, with whom he previously worked on the hit films “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer”, for his new action fantasy film adapted from Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”.

While appearing on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast “New Hills” Damon opened up about how the retired Philadelphia Eagles player accomplished his body transformation after the “Good Will Hunting” star noted he was “pretty subdued” in viral photos from the film’s set.

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“Yeah, I was in really good shape,” Damon said. “I lost a lot of weight.”

The Academy Award winner explained that Nolan, 55, had a vision for how he wanted Damon to physically portray Odysseus.

“He said he wanted me to be weak but strong,” Damon said. “This is a strange thing.”

Damon said he made a significant change to his diet that helped him lose weight.

Damon was photographed on set in April. (CIAOPIX/COBRA TEAM / BACKGRID)

“I literally stopped eating gluten because of the other thing I did with my doctor,” she said. “I used to weigh between 185 and 200 pounds. And I shot the entire movie at 167 pounds.”

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“I haven’t been this light since high school,” Damon admitted. “So there was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”

Damon, who has previously undergone major body transformations for roles, said the help of a personal trainer was invaluable.

“The instructors were like, ‘What are we doing?’ they ask. And they can do anything,” he said. “It’s just having a clear goal and setting it.”

Damon made comparisons between his preparation for physically demanding roles and the Kelce brothers’ routines while playing in the NFL.

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“When I do this, or when I do the ‘Jason Bourne’ movies or things like that, it almost feels like a season. I can imagine what that feels like for you — as you’re getting ready,” Damon said. “It’s like it’s part of your day. It’s part of your job, right? It’s like you get really routine about it and build your day around all of these things.”

Damon compared his preparation for the roles to the Kelce brothers’ NFL workouts. (Reuters)

“It’s kind of the physical side of getting ready,” he added.

Damon also told Jason and Travis, 36, that he went gluten-free after wrapping production on “The Odyssey.”

“I’m done,” he said. “I’m gluten-free on everything.”

“I found a gluten-free beer,” Damon said with a laugh. “It’s been so long since I’ve had gluten that I can’t tell if it’s good or not. So that’s a good sign.”

“It works. It works,” Jason told him.

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Damon previously revealed that he would drastically transform his body for the roles. In the 1996 war drama “Courage Under Fire,” Damon lost 40 to 50 pounds in about 100 days to portray a Persian Gulf veteran dying of addiction and trauma.

The actor later said extreme weight loss was dangerous and revealed that a doctor told him it could “permanently shrink my heart.”

Damon said Nolan wanted him to look “thin but strong.” (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

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“I went too far,” Damon said. UK outlet Express. “I got sick and I wouldn’t do it again because it was too much.”

“It also helped performance,” he continued. “I didn’t have to do anything; I was devastated. I was feeling dizzy and hot. I didn’t say anything to anyone for a while because I was afraid I might get really sick.”

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Damon, meanwhile, starred in 2009’s “The Informant!” He said he had a more enjoyable experience when he gained about 30 pounds while playing real-life whistleblower Mark Whitacre in the movie.

“It was very, very easy to gain weight,” Damon told reporters in 2009. “It was very, very fun.” via NBC. “For several months I ate everything in sight.”