The best workplace lessons from the ‘Odyssey’ cast, from carrying your own armor to sharing credit

The cast of "The Odyssey" shared plenty of workplace advice during interviews. Here are the best lessons.ANGELA WEISS / AFPThe cast of "The Odyssey" has been talking about what it took to bring Christopher Nolan's epic to life.Their behind-the-scenes stories also revealed lessons on teamwork, resilience, and leading by example.Here are the workplace lessons that stood out from the cast's press tour.The star-studded cast of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" had plenty to say about working on one of the year's most ambitious productions.They also shared a surprising amount of practical advice about leadership, teamwork, and being the kind of coworker people want on their team.From carrying your own armor to giving credit where it's due, here are some of the best workplace lessons from the film's press tour.Leaders should lead by exampleChristopher Nolan.Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Universal PicturesChristopher Nolan may have been the director, but he still made the same 1,000-foot hike to the film set as everyone else.In a joint People interview on July 16, Tom Holland said Nolan didn't skip the daily trek, even though he could have "justified" taking a helicopter instead.Nolan said he had considered it, but his wife, Emma Thomas, who is also a producer on the film, shut the idea down."I tried, but Emma would not let me. She's like, 'You have to walk up the hill. If you're going to ask people to walk up the hill, you better be walking up,'" Nolan said.Carry your own weightMatt Damon said he made a mistake by letting someone else carry his armor up the hill on the first day of shooting.Samir Hussein/WireImageMatt Damon, who plays the titular Greek character, Odysseus, said he made a major blunder on the first day of the shoot in Greece.In a Today interview on July 14, Damon recalled arriving before his costars after making the 25-minute hike to set."Everyone started coming up, and everyone was wearing their armor. And then I saw Corey, the guy who was handling my wardrobe, carrying my armor, and I felt so horrible," Damon said.Realizing his mistake, Damon said he immediately apologized to his wardrobe assistant and to the rest of his team."That never happened again. That was embarrassing," Damon said.One person's attitude can shape the entire team cultureMatt Damon said Jon Bernthal's attitude during one grueling scene became the standard for the rest of the cast.Dominik Bindl/FilmMagicMatt Damon said Jon Bernthal inspired the rest of the cast with one grueling scene early in production.Damon recalled that Bernthal was half-submerged in icy water in Morocco during winter while filming a scene inside the Trojan Horse."Jon was shaking and putting his hands together and pressing so that he could get the shivers out so he could get one line of dialogue out," Damon told People in an interview published last Thursday.Christopher Nolan repeatedly checked in on Bernthal, but the actor simply urged him to keep filming. "John was just like, 'Just go, just go,'" Damon recalled."That set the tone for the cast. The message was, at some point, you're going to be the guy in the water, and you're not going to complain about it. You're going to push as hard as you can," Damon said.In a separate July interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Damon said Bernthal was the "first example of somebody pushing past what they thought they could do.""Nobody in that horse was ever going to complain for the next five months about anything because of what we saw," Damon said.Develop a strong work ethicAnne Hathaway and Tom Holland said they admired Matt Damon's work ethic on set.Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Universal PicturesAnne Hathaway said Matt Damon's enthusiasm reminded the cast to make the most of every day on set.In a July 3 interview with Fandango, Hathaway said she was inspired by Damon's ability to return to set each day with the same positivity, despite the grueling production."You didn't take a moment for granted, and you're like, 'Oh my god, he gets to be here for 10 months. I'm only here for this part. Better not waste a moment,'" Hathaway said.In the same interview, Tom Holland said Damon's work ethic showed the cast how to carry themselves on set."There was always a smile on his face. He was always kind to everyone in the crew," Holland said.Never stop learning from the people around youTom Holland said he soaked up as much as he could from Christopher Nolan and the film's veteran cast.Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty ImagesTom Holland said one of the best parts of being in "The Odyssey" was getting to learn from some of the industry's most accomplished people, including Christopher Nolan."To get a front row seat to that and to be a part of the process and to collaborate with a true master of his craft and learn from him was the best experience I've ever had," Holland told GQ in a July 2025 interview.He also relished the chance to work alongside veteran actors he had long admired, like Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, Hollan

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