Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Tom Holland and producer Emma Thomas attended the press conference of their film, The Odyssey, at a five-star hotel in South Mumbai. Bollywood Hungama was one of the privileged few to attend this press meet. Matt surprised one and all as he spoke about his regret of not doing a film with Shekhar Kapur.

The Odyssey Mumbai press conference: Matt Damon REGRET turning down Shekhar Kapur’s The Four Feathers: “It's a 20-year-old DEBT that I have been carrying around in my pocket!”

The Odyssey Mumbai press conference: Matt Damon REGRET turning down Shekhar Kapur’s The Four Feathers: “It’s a 20-year-old DEBT that I have been carrying around in my pocket!”

Matt Damon was asked if he’d like to work with an Indian filmmaker and who that would be. He said, “The filmmaker that everybody wanted to collaborate with is Shekhar Kapur. I remember when I couldn’t do The Four Feathers for some reason and I was really upset about that (laughs). I think I was signed up for a Bourne movie. So, I guess he’s always been on my list. I’d like to have another go. That’s like a 20-year-old debt that I have been carrying around in my pocket!”

He also opened up about working on The Odyssey, “I had the benefit of those 35 years behind me and (it was an exciting) opportunity to play a role like this; he’s such a fascinating, complex character. But to do it at this scale in this way with Chris – everything practical and everything in camera – it felt like my one chance to do a David Lean movie! I always wanted to do that (smiles). I felt such gratitude the moment he called me. I had a sense of what it was going to entail.”

Matt Damon continued, “It required so much of work from so many thousands of people. Every single person wanted to be there and nowhere else. We collected crew members in every country that we went to. We knew we were working with the elite members that are coming on board for that section to take on that set piece, and then you move on. We did that in Greece, Iceland, Morocco and Italy. It was just the most exceptional group of people who were just there for the same reason.”

He raised laughs as he said, “I told this to Emma early about producing this film. I asked her, ‘What is wrong with you?’! I told her that I was so happy that I am not a producer on this movie (laughs) because the level of coordination was beyond anyone’s imagination. She said to me, ‘This is like 6 or 7 movies, but we actually made each of these movies already. We have gone underwater with Dunkirk (2017), we have been on mountains with Batman. We have made all of these movies and so, we are prepared to make this one’.”

Matt Damon concluded, “I drew upon every tool from the toolkit and every experience that I have gathered over the course of my life to prepare for this moment. And I had the privilege of doing it alongside the most extraordinary group of people.”

The Odyssey releases in cinemas on July 17.

Also Read: The Odyssey Mumbai premiere: Christopher Nolan attends film’s ONLY fan screening worldwide; calls Indian audiences “some of the MOST enthusiastic and knowledgeable in the world”; playfully asks, “Who is better in the film – Matt Damon or Tom Holland?”