Matt Damon exposes the chaotic way Christopher Nolan filmed most iconic scene
Matt Damon reveals 'The Odyssey's most iconic scene wasn't planned
Matt Damon has revealed that Christopher Nolan didn't have a clear plan for one of The Odyssey's most famous scenes until the cast was already inside the legendary Trojan Horse.
In an interview with People Magazine, Damon recalled asking Nolan how he intended to film the pivotal sequence just days before production was due to begin.
He recalled, "What was funny about the Trojan Horse was before we shot it, we were filming the fall of Troy, and then the following week we were starting in on the horse."
"I think it was a Friday and we were shooting the horse on Tuesday and I said, ‘Chris, how are you going to do the horse?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t know,’" Damon added.
The actor further explained that the director, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, the IMAX camera, and the cast all climbed inside the giant wooden horse together to work out the scene in real time.
"The way we were going to shoot the horse was we were all going to get in the horse and figure it out," Damon said. "Hoyte [van Hoytema] is one of the best cinematographers to ever live, and he was going to get in there with us and Chris was going to get in there with us and we had this incredible group of guys [in] the cast."
He shared, "We were together as a crew for the entire film and we just jammed in there and figured it out," adding, "all the momentum and the energy you get from just making it real, just not planning it out too much."
The actor also shared a memorable behind-the-scenes story involving Jon Bernthal, who endured freezing temperatures while filming in Morocco.
He recalled, "It was early on in the shoot, and I think that set the tone for the cast. The message was like, at some point you’re going to be the guy in the water, and you’re not going to complain about it, you’re going to push as hard as you can until Chris says, ‘That’s enough. Get out, get him warm, get him warm.'"
"So it’s actually a fond memory, thinking about that, even though it was temporarily uncomfortable for Jon, it was a cool example that he set for everybody," he added.
The Odyssey starring Matt Damon is set to release on July 17.
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