Christopher Nolan’s royal ‘Odyssey’ family sat down with PEOPLE to share memories and trade laughs ahead of the film’s July 17 debut
NEED TO KNOW
- In an exclusive roundtable with PEOPLE, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Christopher Nolan reflect on filming The Odyssey
- The cast and crew hiked daily to an Italian castle for filming, with Holland leading the way
- The Odyssey debuts in theaters July 17
Make way for The Odyssey’s royal family.
Almost a year after filming their ancient Greek epic in locations around the world, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland sat down with PEOPLE to share memories and trade laughs ahead of the film’s July 17 debut.
In the IMAX-fueled drama, Damon plays Odysseus, a warrior king who spends 20 years trying to make it back to Ithaca, where his queen (Hathaway) and now-grown son (Holland) are holding off threats of encroaching suitors jockeying for the empty throne. Joined by director Christopher Nolan, the four turn back the clock on their Odyssey adventure.
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
You three play the family unit in The Odyssey, with Matt’s Odysseus striving for most of the film to make it back to his wife and son. A lot has changed since you wrapped last summer! Anne, congratulations on your pregnancy news.
MATT DAMON I was like the only person who didn’t know.
ANNE HATHAWAY I walked in yesterday, and Matt was like, “Huh?”
DAMON She walked in, and it absolutely blew my mind.
Let’s go back to the basics. What’s your earliest memory of reading The Odyssey?
HATHAWAY When Chris told me that we were doing The Odyssey, I actually had to stand up and walk around and said, “I’m going to need a second.” I first encountered Greek mythology in eighth grade, and it was a true love. I watched shows about Greek mythology just for fun even before this.
TOM HOLLAND [To Nolan] I remember my brain scrambling when you told me the movie you were going to make, and I hadn’t read it. I was searching every corner of my brain for any bit of information to try and make myself look intelligent.
Credit: Gavin Bond
Matt, when you got the call from Christopher for this, was it out of the blue like his call for Oppenheimer was?
DAMON I didn’t see it coming at all. In fact, [Nolan’s producing partner and wife, Emma Thomas] had texted me, “Are you around for a call today?” Because Chris famously doesn’t have a phone, so she always gives you a heads-up if he’s going to call. I just thought we were catching up.
Tom, you had to make a few calls to push Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s start date to be able to shoot The Odyssey first.
HOLLAND To be honest, when I got home after our meeting, I sat down with [partner Zendaya] and was like, “I’ve been offered this movie.” And she was like, “By who?” I was like, “It’s the big one.” And then we had Spider-Man that was literally scheduled to go the same day that we would start shooting, and Z said, “I’ll leave you if you don’t do The Odyssey.” [Laughs]
NOLAN Well, thank you to her.
Was there time to bond together as a family unit? Games of Uno on the side?
HATHAWAY I wish we did, but no. We sat around a conference table and discussed the script.
NOLAN Well, you guys are hardly strangers.
HATHAWAY Yeah. [To Damon] I first met you when you were shirtless in a freezing tank in a cold storage unit in L.A. [for Interstellar]. I mean, if that’s not a bonding experience, I’m not sure what is.
Word is most of the cast and crew hiked up daily to the Italian castle that stood in for Ithaca’s palace.
NOLAN So we had helicopters to bring equipment up or to bring members of the crew or cast who for whatever reason couldn’t make the hike. But the bulk of people, because we needed 250 people up there, had to hike. I remember the first day feeling like I was making a pretty good pace, and then Tom Holland with his headphones on was zipping past me like a gazelle: “See you up there!”
HOLLAND It was such a nice way to get the blood pumping before the day. The day we did the fight on the edge of the cliff, though, we hiked up, we shot this fight scene all day, and then the walk down in the evening, my legs were jelly. Chris, you walked up every day, and you could totally have justified flying up because you’re a busy man.
NOLAN I tried, but Emma would not let me. [All laugh] She’s like, “If you’re going to ask people to walk, you better be walking.”
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
This film rests on Zeus’s law, a principle rooted in hospitality and kindness, but it was a brutal shoot. Is there an act of kindness that’s stayed with you?
DAMON There was a big jacket they gave me in Iceland, it looked like a carpet. That was an act of kindness that really meant a lot — and actually it enabled me to finish this scene because I was shivering, and suddenly this thing came out and I looked like Nanook of the North when he put it on me. I had absolutely no shame. I’m sure someone took a picture and it’s embarrassing and I don’t care.
HATHAWAY There was one day when we were on the boat and like it was lunchtime and as you can imagine, it’s like a whole production to get food from land onto the boat. And I just remember you [Nolan] handing out sandwiches to everybody. You just went straight from like director to just like, “Is everybody okay? Does everybody have a cheese sandwich?”
NOLAN That’s casting a very positive light on it. What I really knew is until the crew started eating, I couldn’t start eating. [All laugh] Actually, these are all examples of what you see on film sets all the time, because everybody needs everybody else to be working at their best. It’s the ultimate version of teamwork. Everybody understands that if Matt can’t stop shivering, he can’t get his lines out, the movie stops. So you see so many little acts of people helping each other along the way to get it done and it’s a really special thing to be a part of.
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The Odyssey hits theaters everywhere July 17.
For more on The Odyssey, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available everywhere Friday.
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