The director described the character of Odysseus as a combination of an ordinary everyman and a superhero figure.
"For this very complex character, you need an actor who disappears into parts, who is very open to the audience," said Nolan.
"You want the audience to go with him through his mistakes — and he makes a lot of mistakes.
Matt was everyman for 'The Martian,' a kind of superhero for the Jason Bourne films, and Odysseus is part everyman, part superhero."
Nolan noted that Damon lacks movie-star baggage, which helped him lead the rest of the cast through demanding physical labor during boat rowing scenes on location.
"Though he's one of the most proficient and accomplished of actors, he has no movie-star baggage," explained Nolan.
The production relied heavily on Damon's leadership to manage the challenging physical environment of the shoot.
"We were going to really challenging locations, doing a lot of boat work, and he helped to lead that process," said Nolan.
"The rest of the cast, a cadre of guys who worked their asses off rowing, was looking to him and everyone saw what he was doing for the film.
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Without Matt, we would have been better off doing it on a sound stage."
