Matt Damon’s commitment to his role in “The Odyssey” led to a personal revelation that would change his life forever.
In a recent episode of Amy Poehler’s podcast “Good Hang,” the Academy Award-winning actor opened up about permanently removing gluten from his diet. The decision came as a serendipitous discovery while undergoing a significant transformation for his role in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film, “The Odyssey.” Damon described the dietary change as life-altering, highlighting how the absence of gluten positively impacted his well-being.
“It’s just a complete, complete lifestyle change,” Damon explained, as Poehler jested about the challenges of “getting jacked in your 50s.”
The actor admitted this transformation wasn’t something he could meticulously plan. “Any other time I tried something like this, it was always about ‘My time, my workouts’,” Damon recalled. “This time, it was just about pressing down on the gas pedal, and that’s the only way to do it—alongside eating a little less.”
Damon also noted his newfound dietary regime which, according to him, “changed my life,” highlighting the profound impact that removing gluten had on his lifestyle.
When Poehler asked whether he still had “any desire” for it, Damon replied, “No, because of what it does to me … I didn’t know.”
Poehler noted that many people in their generation weren’t aware of food sensitivities while growing up.
Damon agreed, saying, “We didn’t talk about it, and I didn’t realize the level to which it was affecting me. Like it’s completely changed my life these last couple years of not eating it … it’s a bummer. I’m a big fan of bread and beer, and pasta and pizza and all that stuff, but … how I feel is just [so much better.]”
Earlier this year, Damon detailed the grueling regimen he followed to play the legendary Greek hero Odysseus in Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of “The Odyssey.”
Speaking on Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, Damon said he dropped to 167 pounds — his lightest weight in decades.
“Yeah, I was in really good shape,” Damon said. “I lost a lot of weight.”
Nolan had a specific vision for the character.
“He said he wanted me … lean but strong,” Damon explained.
The actor said eliminating gluten played a major role in the transformation.
“I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten,” he said. “I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie at 167 pounds.”
“I haven’t been that light since high school,” Damon added. “So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Damon also credited working with a personal trainer for helping him stay focused throughout the demanding process.
“Trainers are like, ‘What are we doing?’ And they can kind of do anything,” he said. “It’s just having kind of a clear goal and setting it.”
The transformation wasn’t the first of Damon’s career.
For the 1996 war drama “Courage Under Fire,” he shed between 40 and 50 pounds in about 100 days — a drastic weight loss he later revealed nearly came with an extreme cost.
According to Damon, a doctor warned him he “could have shrunk my heart permanently.”