The Odyssey star Himesh Patel shares the moment he knew the movie was going to be a hit
Christopher Nolan fans were certain The Odyssey was going to be a hit seconds after watching the trailer - but it was something else that convinced Himesh Patel.
Patel, who stars as Eurylochus, Odysseus' second in command, says he realized after a chat with his on-screen leader Matt Damon, once filming had wrapped.
"We wrapped at exactly the same time and he came into the trailer at the same time as we tried to wipe the muck off our faces, as we did at the end of every day," Patel told comedian Romesh Ranganathan on The Romesh Ranganathan Show.
"He just sort of put his arm around me and said, 'Man, I think we've made a good one.'"
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"And I thought, well if Matt Damon's saying that, he's been in quite a few good movies, he must have quite a good instinct now. He's great writer, he's a great film maker and a producer, so if he's got a good instinct about this thing, maybe he can see how it will come together."
Jokingly, Romesh asked Patel what he would have done if the Ocean’s Eleven star had said it 'looked like they curled out another one'.
Chuckling, Patel added: "I probably would have had the appropriate response in opposition."
The 35-year-old joked he would have told his wife he had 'wasted six months'.
Luckily, Damon was correct, with the movie grossing over $1 billion in box offices worldwide less than a month after release.
Damon, 55, has been in the industry for almost four decades. His career began in 1988, when he had a non-speaking role in the movie, Mystic Pizza.
However, his big breakthrough came almost a decade later, when he starred in Good Will Hunting. He's since gone on to star in huge blockbusters, including The Bourne Identity and The Martian.
Patel, on the other hand, made his feature film debut in 2019, playing Jack Malik in the musical comedy film, Yesterday.
However, what many may not know is that Patel starred in British BBC soap opera, EastEnders between 2007-2016, where he played the character of Tamwar Masood, before venturing into movies.
Previously speaking on the reaction Nolan's movie has gotten from fans, Patel told GQ: “Nothing could have prepared me for the amazing response that we’ve had in every way since the movie came out; it’s been quite overwhelming," saying he had been 'really heartened' on a personal level.
I'm aware of how rare something like this is in anyone's career, and I'm just soaking it all in as much as I can," he added.
On the podcast, Patel spoke about being away filming for long periods of time, with Damon revealing he 'broke a family rule' for the first time in his life due to this.
Previously, Damon, who has four daughters with his wife, Luciana Barroso, revealed to the Guardian in 2012. that he and his family have a 'two-week rule', which means they 'can’t be apart as a family for longer' than that time period. However, this was broken during The Odyssey filming.
"There was like stretches of like three and a half weeks, and we were just away from each other," he told NBC's Today show. "It was hard on us, and I’m so proud of the movie, but I’m so proud of them for really encouraging me," he added.
Topics: Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Celebrity, Film and TV
Kiesha Dosanjh