Matt Damon has revealed that cutting gluten from his diet, after discovering a food sensitivity with his doctor, permanently changed his life while training to play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s The
Odyssey. The actor dropped to 167 pounds (76 kg), his lightest weight since high school.
On Good Hang With Amy Poehler
Speaking on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, Damon said, “It’s just a complete, complete lifestyle change.” Explaining how it started, he said, “I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten.” He added, “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.]”
On the weight change, he said, “I used to walk around between 185 and 200 pounds. And I did that whole movie at 167 pounds.” He added, “I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.” On his approach to preparing, he said, “There’s no planning it. Any other time I tried to do something like that, it was always like, well, ‘My time, my workouts’ …” He also described working with trainers. “Trainers are like, ‘What are we doing?’ And they can kind of do anything. It’s just having kind of a clear goal and setting it.”
On New Heights With Jason And Travis Kelce
Matt Damon also discussed the transformation separately on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast. “I had a beard like yours for like a year,” he told Jason. “I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight.” He said Nolan “wanted me lean but strong.” Repeating the weight figures here too, he said, “I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.” On the daily routine, he said, “I imagine what that feels like for you guys, where you’re preparing. It’s just part of your day, it’s part of your job, and you get really routinized about it and kinda build your day around all that stuff.” He confirmed he’s stayed off gluten since finishing the film. “I’m done. I’m gluten-free everything. I found a gluten-free beer. It’s been so long since I’ve had gluten, I can’t tell if it’s good or not.”
The Odyssey releases in Indian cinemas on July 17.
