Matt Damon Praised Devyn Dalton’s Arms. Christopher Nolan Needed Her Skills on “The Odyssey”

As Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey continues its epic run across premium-format screens and in theaters across the world, there have been many people, Nolan chiefly among them, earning their laurels. You can credit the incredible cast, led by Matt Damon as Odysseus and featuring huge stars like Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’s wife Penelope, Tom Holland as their son Telemachus, Charlize Theron as the divine nymph Calypso, Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra, and Robert Pattinson as the cunning, cutthroat suitor Antinous. There are more, of course, including a scene-stealing turn by Emily Watson as the powerful witch Circe, Jon Bernthal as the King of Sparta, Menelaus, and Himesh Patel’s turn as Odysseus’s second-in-command, Eurylochus. You can credit Nolan’s crew, including cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who was a big reason The Odyssey was able to become the first film ever shot entirely with IMAX cameras, production designer Ruth De Jong, who, among other feats, helped construct the colossal Trojan Horse, and editor Jennifer Lame, who kept the action fluid and flowing as the story moves back and forward across time.

Yet there is another person who is rightly getting her due for playing a huge part in The Odyssey’s success—Devyn Dalton, a diminutive powerhouse from Canada who served as Damon’s stunt double. One of the film’s most memorable images belongs to Dalton, who stepped into Odysseus’s sandals to help sell the scale of one of Nolan’s most visually arresting sequences. It’s a vivid reminder of the skill, preparation, and artistry that stunt performers bring to the screen every day.

Dalton’s name recently surfaced when Damon told Happy Sad Confused host Josh Horowitz that Dalton has “the greatest arms I have ever seen.” Damon had been talking about one of the film’s most striking sequences, when Odysseus and his men stumble upon the armored, colossal Laestrygonians, a race of giants who march through the forest to obliterate the invaders who have come to their island. To capture how huge the Laestrygonians are, Nolan utilized a technique called “forced perspective” to make Odysseus and his men appear tiny. Enter Dalton, who is 4’6,” who doubled for Damon, who is 5’10”, to emphasize the height difference. The shot of Dalton, sword in hand, standing before the approaching giants became one of the film’s posters.

Dalton is as prepared for her roles as any seasoned performer. As she explained to the New York Times, she studies scripts and pores over an actor’s most minuscule mannerism so that, when the time comes for her to leap into action, she’s ready to do so completely in character.

“When doubling for someone, I’ll always specifically watch like, what foot did they walk with first?” she told the Times. “People also just have little tendencies, like they might lean to one side or move a certain way. So I study all of that and try to mimic it exactly. That’s what sells it so well on camera.”

That’s on top of the strength training, mixed martial arts, running, and hiking that she uses to stay in peak physical shape.

Originally from Vancouver, Dalton began her career performing stunts in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and more recently worked on HBO’s The Last of Us and Zach Cregger’s Oscar-nominated Weapons. (She’s the one who tackles Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys in the climactic conclusion.)

Dalton’s stunt work has tested her in endless ways, and versatility (and not telling her mom what she’s working on at a given moment) have been the key to her longevity and success.

“That’s the thing with stunts — the training never ends,” she told the Times. “In the past, I’ve done a few really cool underwater fight scenes, and so I took courses that focused on water safety, breath holding and cold water because a lot of the time you’re not working in a warm situation, and so you have to learn how to manage the temperature. And you’re in costume and makeup, and you have to be underwater with your eyes open.”

Featured image: Matt Damon (center) is Odysseus in THE ODYSSEY, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.