Behind-the-Scenes Details Reveal Practical Stunts and Challenges in Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey employed a range of practical techniques that pushed cast and crew into physically demanding situations. The production used a custom-built IMAX 70mm camera housed in a sound-proof blimp, and a mirror system was added so actors could maintain eye contact during intimate scenes.

Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, described being sealed inside a full-scale Trojan Horse for the shoot and spending days strapped to a mast on a real boat while filming the sirens sequence. He also noted that his forced-perspective stunt double was a woman, and that female stunt performers portrayed the sirens on the rocks.

The cast walked a 45-minute uphill trek each day to reach the 15th-century Castello di Santa Caterina in Sicily, where the Ithaca scenes were filmed. Anne Hathaway, playing Penelope, was flown in by helicopter to avoid arriving in armor.

To create the whirlpool of Charybdis, the crew used jet skis to generate water movement, and a ratchet system lifted stuntmen during the Scylla attack. For the underworld sequence, stunt performers were buried in sand with hidden snorkels for safety.

The transformation of Odysseus’s men into pigs was achieved with animatronics and practical effects rather than CGI, according to actors Himesh Patel and Tom Holland.