Charlize Theron has shared some candid red-carpet thoughts about her The Odyssey co-star Matt Damon, praising the dramatic physical transformation he underwent for Christopher Nolan’s latest film.
The epic, which opened in theaters and IMAX on July 17, 2026, sees Damon take on the central role of Odysseus while Theron appears as the immortal sea nymph Calypso.
Nolan’s adaptation has been billed as one of his most ambitious productions yet, with Universal describing it as an IMAX-scale retelling of Homer’s foundational saga. The film also reunites Damon and Theron years after they first appeared together in 2000’s The Legend of Bagger Vance.
But according to Theron, seeing Damon prepare for this role gave her a very different perspective on her longtime colleague.
“I’ve seen him without all of that suit on,” the 50-year-old told Entertainment Tonight. “He’s incredible. Incredible.”
Speaking at the London premiere of The Odyssey, Theron joked that she was having trouble hiding exactly what had caught her attention.
“I’m staring at him weirdly. I’m looking at his a*s right now.
“I shouldn’t do that, that’s just wrong,” the Hollywood star laughed.
“He looks amazing!” Theron added.
Her remarks were clearly playful. Damon has been married to his wife Luciana for two decades.
Together they have three daughters: Isabella, 20, Gia, 17, and Stella, 15.
The Good Will Hunting actor also adopted Alexia, Luciana’s daughter from an earlier marriage.
For his turn as the legendary Greek hero, Damon reportedly dropped around 30 pounds. Earlier this year, he explained the process during an appearance on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast.
“[Nolan] said he wanted me lean but strong, and so its a weird thing, I don’t want to bore the s**t out of you but I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten,” he told the brothers.
“I used to walk around at between 185 [pounds] and 200 and I did that whole movie at 167. I haven’t been that light since high school.
“So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Even after making such a major change, Damon later admitted there was someone on set whose physique impressed him even more than his own: his stunt double.
“When we did the forced perspective stuff of the Laestrygonians, there were these stuntmen who were all seven feet. And then they got stuntmen who were under five feet,” Damon said, while appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“My double was a woman, a female stunt performer—who had the greatest arms I’ve ever seen.”
And despite Theron’s enthusiasm over Damon’s appearance, there was still one major part of the project she had yet to experience: the film itself.
During her chat with ET, the Mad Max star said the London premiere on July 8 marked the first time she would actually be watching the much-anticipated release.