In The Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a ten-year-long perilous quest to return home filled with all kinds of dangers and monsters. As such, it required lead star Matt Damon to really get into the thick of things, whether it be on the sea or the desert, given director Christopher Nolan’s penchant for shooting scenes as practically as he can. Though that doesn’t mean Damon had no stunt doubles for the trickier scenes, and one of those was done by a woman named Devyn Dalton, who substituted the actor in one of the film’s most striking moments.
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Devyn Dalton Is Matt Damon’s Female Stunt Double
During Odysseus’s quest, he and his men stumble across the Laestrygonians. In the original story, they are a race of cannibals who destroy 11 of the 12 ships in Odysseus’s fleet. But in the film, they are reimagined as giant armored soldiers who cut down most of Odysseus’s men, leaving just one ship. To get that sense of scale on camera, the production implemented forced perspective and hired 7 ft actors to play the Laestrygonians while stunt doubles who are below 5 ft served as the Greek soldiers. Dalton, who is 4 ft and 6 inches, served as Damon’s stunt double and stood in for shots that highlighted how big their opponents are.
During an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Oscar-winning actor had nothing but praise for Dalton’s work and her physicality. “When we did the force perspective stuff with the Laestrygonians… there were these stuntmen who were all seven feet, and then they got stunt men who were under five feet. My double was a woman, a female stunt performer who had the greatest arms I’ve ever seen. When she came into the catering tent, it was the first time I met her. I went up and hugged her and thanked her for all the work she put in,” he shared.
While it’s not a surprise seeing Hollywood actors use stunt doubles for action scenes, having a female stunt double substitute for the lead male actor of a Christopher Nolan film is notable, but Devyn Dalton is more than up to the task. Born in Vancouver, Canada, Dalton is a woman of many skills, as the 34-year-old is an actor, dancer, stunt performer, voice-over talent, and motion-capture artist by trade. She has trained in numerous disciplines, such as boxing, Muay Thai, fencing, and sword fighting.
The Canadian actor’s resume, meanwhile, includes several big-budget Hollywood films and shows with over 60 credits and counting to her name. Some of her past projects in stunt work, acting, and motion capture include Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes, Weapons (she was a stunt double for one of the kids during the final chase sequence), Godzilla, The Last of Us, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Thunderbolts*, The Flash, Arrow, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. She even voiced Ocellus in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Name a blockbuster movie or series; chances are you can find Dalton’s name in the credits as a stunt performer or double.
Stunts have always been an underrated and underappreciated profession in filmmaking (the category won’t be included in the Oscars until 2028), but especially so for stunt women who are underrepresented in the field and often have to push back against the idea that only men have the physicality for the job, not to mention the stereotypes that come with women with athletic builds. As Dalton proves, women can and are great as stunt performers. Women in film, after all, aren’t just limited to acting, directing, and writing, but also stunt doubling and highly physical roles.
Featured Image: DEVYN DALTON (via Instagram), Photographed by ALICE BEST CREATIVE
Photos: DEVYN DALTON (via Instagram), UNIVERSAL PICTURES (via Website)
Frequently Asked Questions
Devyn Dalton is a Canadian stunt performer, actor, dancer, voice-over talent, and motion-capture artist born in Vancouver, with over 60 screen credits including Godzilla, The Last of Us, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
Devyn Dalton stood in for Matt Damon during the film’s Laestrygonians battle sequence, using forced perspective alongside 7-foot actors and stunt performers under 5 feet tall to create scale.
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt Damon praised Devyn Dalton’s physicality, calling her arms among the best he’d ever seen and personally thanking her for her work on set.
Devyn Dalton’s stunt and acting credits include Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes, Weapons, Godzilla, The Last of Us, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Thunderbolts*, The Flash, Arrow, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
Devyn Dalton stands 4 feet 6 inches tall, which qualified her to perform as one of the Greek soldiers facing the 7-foot actors playing the Laestrygonians in The Odyssey.
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