Christopher Nolan Got Just as Cold and Wet as Everyone Else While Filming ‘The Odyssey,’ Says Matt Damon

Matt Damon is pulling back the curtain on what it was genuinely like to film Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming epic The Odyssey — and the picture he paints is far removed from the glamorous image most people associate with a major Hollywood production.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the 55-year-old actor made clear that his status as one of the most recognizable stars in the world earned him absolutely no special privileges on set. Whether the crew was battling storms on open water, braving extreme conditions, or simply grinding through another punishing shooting day, Damon was right there alongside everyone else — including Nolan himself, who was reportedly just as cold and soaked as the rest of the team when the elements turned against them.

For Damon, that sense of shared suffering became one of the defining qualities of the entire production. He told PEOPLE that he came away from the experience feeling deeply bonded with every single cast and crew member precisely because the challenges they faced were universal — no one was shielded from them, and no one was given a warmer or more comfortable version of the same day.

The actor described filming the movie as feeling less like a conventional shoot and more like a full-blown expedition — one that required everyone involved to push past what they believed they were physically and creatively capable of, day after day, without exception. He credited that collective effort as the reason the footage they captured looks and feels as extraordinary as it does.

Damon plays Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, in the film — an adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek poem that follows Odysseus across a 10-year journey home after the Trojan War, told across 24 non-linear books. The production reunites him with Nolan, who won both the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director for Oppenheimer in 2024.

The film boasts one of the most extraordinary ensemble casts assembled in recent memory, with Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron all starring alongside Damon.

Despite the physical toll of production, Damon expressed nothing but gratitude for the experience, telling PEOPLE that he feels audiences will feel the effort the moment they sit down to watch it. He was unambiguous about his confidence in the finished product, suggesting that the sheer scale of what the team endured to capture these images translates directly into something that justifies every ticket purchase.

The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17.