Known for delivering critical and commercial blockbusters such as ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘The Martian’, ‘Interstellar’, ‘Oppenheimer’, and many others, Matt Damon is all set for the release of his upcoming film ‘The Odyssey’, written and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Ahead of the film’s worldwide theatrical release on July 17, Damon, an Academy Award winner, has called ‘The Odyssey’ a film that has given him the character that has impacted him the most personally in his career spanning over 35 years.

In a conversation with the media in Mumbai on Saturday, Damon, who plays the role of the ancient Greek legend Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey’, reflected on why he believes it is one of the most impactful characters he has portrayed on screen.

“Having the benefit of those 35 years behind me, and to have the opportunity to play a role like this… Odysseus is such a fascinating and complex character. But to do it at this scale, in this way, with Chris (Nolan), everything practical, everything in camera, it felt like my one chance to make a David Lean movie. And I always wanted to do that.”

The 55-year-old actor further added that bringing the character to life was the result of the efforts of thousands of people.

“I felt such gratitude from the moment he (Nolan) called me for the role. I knew what this was... I mean, I had a sense of what this was going to entail. And it required so much work from so many thousands of people. But you knew you were among kindred spirits. Every single person there wanted to be there and nowhere else.”

He went on to add that crew members from every country where the team filmed came on board to make the project possible.

“We collected crew members in every country we went to. We were working with the elite from that country who were coming on board for that section to take on that set piece. And then you'd move on, and you'd pick up new members. In Greece, in Italy, in Iceland, in Morocco… It was just the most exceptional group of people who were all there for the same reason.”

Having previously worked with Nolan on ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, Damon also reflected on the immense scale of ‘The Odyssey’, recalling one moment during filming that left him completely speechless.

“There’s one story from the making of the film which reminded me of the scale of this film. We were shooting the sacking of the Troy scene. There was a shot where Hoyte van Hoytema (the cinematographer) was following me with the camera, he had it on his shoulder, and buildings were on fire, and there were thousands of people battling, and somebody ran past me on fire just through the crowd. There's a little detail in the shot, and through this incredible, beautiful chaos, we hear Chris shout ‘cut’, and everything stops, and Hoyte takes the camera off his shoulder and hands it off and turns to me and says, ‘You realise this is a flashback?’ That was my moment where I went, ‘This is really big. This is as big as it gets.’”

Damon also recalled a conversation with producer Emma Thomas, saying the scale of the production was unlike anything he had ever witnessed.

“And so, I think... I said to Emma early on, ‘I can't believe you decided to produce this movie. What is wrong with you? I said, I'm so happy I'm not a producer on this movie.’

Because the level of coordination just beggared the imagination. But she said to me, ‘You know, this is like six or seven movies, but we've actually made each of these movies already. We've been on the water with ‘Dunkirk’. We've been up mountains with ‘Dark Knight’. So we've made all of these movies, and so we're prepared to make this one.’ And that's kind of how I felt.”

“It took every kind of tool in the toolkit that I've been evolving and refining for my life to meet this moment. And I got to meet it with the most extraordinary group of people. So I would have to say this is the one,” said Damon as he elaborated on why Odysseus is the character that has impacted him the most.

When asked what one thing Odysseus teaches us today that the modern world may have forgotten, Damon said, “I think Odysseus, certainly in this film, teaches us that you will live with the consequences of your choices. So choose carefully.”

He also reflected on the one quality of Odysseus that resonated with him the most while portraying the legendary character.

“It depends sometimes, really, where you are in your own life when you encounter this story. I think that's why it's endured, right? Because, you know, as a young man, I probably viewed it more as a coming-of-age story. Encountering it again in my 50s, it struck me very differently. And I really related to this character with a lot of life behind him, a lot of, you know, he's flawed, he doesn't make the right choice. He very much has to live with what he's done. But, yeah, I probably, if I had one word, I mean, complicated is the word that Homer used, so that would be one. But having been through this experience, perhaps endurance.”

Meanwhile, ‘The Odyssey’ is set for a theatrical release on July 17. A special screening of the upcoming film was held in Mumbai on Friday, which has been described as the first global fan screening of the movie. It’s also the first time that Nolan has promoted his film in India.