Christopher Nolan may be one of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers, but according to Matt Damon, the Oscar-winning director still doesn't own a cell phone.
Speaking with PEOPLE while promoting The Odyssey, Damon shared how Nolan reached out to offer him the lead role in the filmmaker's latest epic, revealing the unconventional process behind working with one of Hollywood’s most influential directors.
Because Nolan doesn't use a cellphone or communicate by text or email, Damon said the call always begins with a heads-up from the director's wife and producing partner, Emma Thomas.
"Emma had texted me, 'Are you around for a call today?' Because Chris famously doesn't have a phone," Damon said.
Thomas typically lets actors know a call is coming before Nolan phones from whatever landline is available at Universal Studios.
"And then you get a phone call from a nondescript number, because he's just picking up a line at Universal Studios," Damon explained, adding that "he doesn't know what number it's going to be."
When the call finally came, Damon initially assumed it was simply an opportunity to reconnect after the success of Oppenheimer, which had completed its awards season run only months earlier.
"He called and we chatted for 10 or 15 minutes," Damon said. "It was only six months after Oppenheimer had gone through the Oscars and all of that."
The actor figured Nolan would take a lengthy break before beginning another production.
"So I just thought we were catching up, which we did," Damon recalled. "And then he blurted out, 'Yeah, I'm thinking of going back to work.' And I went, 'Wait, already?'"
That conversation ultimately led Damon to star as Odysseus in Nolan's adaptation of Homer's classic epic, The Odyssey.
The film reunites Damon with Nolan after their collaborations on Interstellar and the Academy Award-winning Oppenheimer. The cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, Elliot Page and Samantha Morton.
Despite frequently working with many of the same actors, Nolan said he doesn't write characters with specific performers in mind.
"I try to just discover the characters through the process of writing," Nolan told PEOPLE. He explained that envisioning an actor too early can limit how a character develops because it encourages him to write toward performances audiences have already seen.
Instead, Nolan finishes the screenplay first before deciding who might be the best fit.
"When you're finished with the script," he said, "you get to sit there and go, 'Okay, I wonder what Matt's doing this week or should I give Anne a call?' And that's the fun of it."
And Nolan famously refuses to use technology, opting to write scripts on a computer not connected to the Internet, refusing to use email, and not carrying a smartphone.
