Matt Damon spent six months filming The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's next event movie. But despite the onerous task of playing Odysseus in the film, his "gratitude" over the experience never waned, according to two Nolan veterans.
During a conversation with GamesRadar+ to discuss The Smashing Machine, Damon's Odyssey co-star Benny Safdie, and Oppenheimer's Emily Blunt (who won't appear in the new film), touched on their "goosebumps" over Nolan's 2026 adaptation of Homer's epic poem, and Damon's still-palpable excitement about having spearheaded the stacked cast.
"It was an incredible experience," says Benny Safdie, who memorably featured in Oppenheimer as the traitorous Edward Teller and is back for The Odysssey, where he's rumored to play Agamemnon. "If I explained to you the scale of what it was and how it happened, you wouldn't even believe me. It really was remarkable to see this period of time come to life the way that it did. It was amazing."
While Blunt didn't get the invitation to return for The Odyssey ("Listen, Chris and I are gonna have chats, that's what I'm gonna say," Blunt jokes), she notes that: "I'm so excited to see The Odyssey. I am, goosebumps, yeah. I mean, Matt is still feeling gratitude at getting to experience something like that."
"I would come in and out," adds Safdie, "And I would see him, and he'd literally have been going through the Odyssey. I would see him, but he would always have this incredible warmth and excitement about what we were doing. And it was just like, 'This is the greatest.'"
Blunt stars alongside Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine, the A24-produced biopic of pioneering UFC champ Mark Kerr. Safdie stayed behind the camera for The Smashing Machine as the film's director and co-writer, but his lucrative second career as an actor has seen him appear in films for the likes of Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson and Claire Denis. Safdie and Blunt even share the screen in Oppenheimer, for a memorable (and lovingly memed) scene in which Blunt's Kitty rejects the offer of a handshake from Safdie's Teller – a moment that ensured Blunt was front of mind when Safdie was casting Kerr's wife, Dawn Staples.
"It was very brief but very impactful!" Safdie says of their single on-screen encounter, with a chuckle. "I was thinking about who could play Dawn, and I had seen that there was this deep friendship between Dwayne and Emily. I realized that this is a complicated relationship that we're going to explore, and in order to focus on that complication, it's very important to have a strong foundation of trust and friendship. It only helped to know that Emily is an incredible actor. And in that moment [on Oppenheimer], I felt it. So I didn't have to do anything other than remember how I felt."
The Smashing Machine opens in theaters on October 3. The Odyssey releases July 17, 2026. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way for the rest of the year.
