She is 4ft 5in tall, has been training for a decade and a half, and now Devyn Dalton is the woman behind one of cinema’s most anticipated characters. The 34-year-old stunt performer doubled for Matt Damon in Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey*, a blockbuster retelling of Homer’s epic Greek poem. And in a film filled with towering giants, Dalton’s diminutive frame became a crucial piece of movie magic.
In one of the film’s most memorable sequences, Dalton’s character faces off against 7ft-tall stunt performers playing the Laestrygonians, a race of giant cannibals. The scene also appears on the film’s promotional poster. Speaking to the New York Post, Dalton described the use of “forced perspective” as straightforward: “Movie magic.”
“Stunt performer Devyn Dalton, 34, doubles for Matt Damon in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, praised for her arms.”
Damon recently heaped praise on Dalton, describing her as having “the greatest arms I’ve ever seen.” On the *Happy Sad Confused* podcast, he explained how the production used stunt doubles for the giant scenes: “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.”
Dalton has been performing in stunt roles since 2011’s *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*. She maintains a strict regime of yoga, weight training, boxing and weapon work because she never knows when she might get called. “Physically, I’m always ready to go because you get the phone call and have to be ready,” she said. “Sometimes you only get a week’s notice.”
Her role in *The Odyssey* came after years of building relationships in Hollywood. “Opportunities like this come from building trust and [having] a strong reputation in the industry,” Dalton said. “It doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes so long and I spent my entire career [preparing] for this.”
Dalton also thanked Damon for giving her credit as a co-creator of Odysseus on screen: “I’m so overwhelmed that he gave a shoutout into how it works. It’s about time more information comes out about this.”
She noted that stunt work is often perceived as a male profession.“They often say ‘stuntman’, but what about stuntwomen?” Dalton asked. “It’s been a really long journey paving the way... There’s been a lot of women who have opened the doors, but it’s an ongoing battle always. I hope to continue to pave the way for that.”
The film itself, Nolan’s retelling of the ancient poem, is still in production, but Dalton’s work is already drawing attention — not just for her size, but for her strength.