Matt Damon reveals his daughter's sweet 5-word review of The Odyssey

If you thought shooting a big-budget epic with Christopher Nolan sounded brutal, well, Matt Damon is here to confirm it: you'd be absolutely right. The man himself has been opening up about just how punishing The Odyssey was to make—and why a simple line from his daughter may have made the entire ordeal worthwhile.

A Greek Epic… and an Actual Ordeal

Damon's been chatting to People about his latest turn as Odysseus, and by the sounds of it, the film's journey mirrors the old myth rather closely in more ways than one. The production, he said, wasn't just tough—he called it 'by far the hardest movie to the most challenging movie I’ve ever been a part'. He went and compared it to an actual expedition rather than a typical film shoot, which is probably not the fun, sun-drenched Greek holiday you might imagine.

Apparently, the lot of them spend most of their time contending with everything Mother Nature could throw at them—rain, cold, just general discomfort. No luxury in sight, unless you count soggy boots and chattering teeth. As Damon put it: 'We were out in the weather, whether we were cold, uncomfortable, getting rained on.'

One Genuine Family Moment

Now, here’s where it gets surprisingly touching. Damon—dad of four with his wife Luciana—shared how, after the film was finished, one of his daughters watched the thing all the way through. And at the end, she turned to him and dropped what he describes as a genuinely rare moment of sincerity for their relationship:

'She saw The Odyssey, and at the end of it, she actually turned to me, and she said, "Dad, I'm proud of you."'

If you’re thinking, 'Well, surely his kids say nice things all the time,' apparently not. Damon says their usual family dynamic is straight-up banter, so this was, as he admits, basically unheard of. Above all those awards and glowing reviews, this was the thing that got him right in the heart: 'She’s never said anything like that because we joke around a lot, and so at that point, I was like, "I'm good."' When your own child breaks character, that’s how you know.

The Film (and the Hype)

So, that’s the family stuff—what about the film? The Odyssey sees Damon as Odysseus, trapped in a cinematic version of Homer’s saga, directed by Nolan (who’s basically never done anything by halves). It’s lined up as one of 2026’s biggest releases. With the global premiere locked for 17 July, everyone’s waiting to see if it really is the epic it claims to be—or just the toughest slog in Matt Damon's career.