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Devyn Dalton owns an impressive television and movie resume that includes roles in Hypnotic,<\/em> The Electric State,<\/em> and Rise of the Planet of the Apes,<\/em> but her latest role as Matt Damon\u2019s stunt double in the box office smash, The Odyssey<\/em> has gained attention for an extraordinary reason: In scenes and posters for the film, Dalton\u2019s arms are used in the portrayal of Damon\u2019s character Odysseus, leading the Oscar winner to praise his working partner as having \u201cthe greatest\u201d arms that he\u2019s ever seen.<\/p>\n So, wanting to find out more about those legendary arms, and what drives Dalton to dial-in her biceps, M&F Hers<\/em> sat down with the 4-foot-6-inch powerhouse.<\/p>\n \u201cMovement has honestly been part of my life for as long as I can remember,\u201d Dalton tells M&F Hers.<\/em> \u201cI grew up dancing and performing, so I was active from a very young age, but my relationship with fitness evolved as my career did.\u201d<\/p>\n As the actor\u2019s resume expanded to motion capture, she began to challenge herself further as a stunt performer. \u201cStunt work became a natural extension,\u201d she explains. \u201cI love that it combines so many things I am passionate about; acting, movement, athleticism, storytelling and problem-solving. At 4\u20196,\u201d I can double as children, creatures, and characters of different scales, but I\u2019m also an adult with years of physical training and experience. That combination has allowed me to do some pretty unusual jobs. Over the years, the lines between acting, performance capture, and stunt work have really blurred for me. I don\u2019t think of myself as only one thing. Ultimately, I\u2019m a performer, and I love using my body as part of telling a story.\u201d<\/p>\n Dalton\u2019s ability to execute multiple roles was illustrated in 2011, when she donned a chimpanzee costume for Rise of the Planet of the Apes<\/a><\/em> and was the first woman to play Cornelia, who is the mother of Cornelius. She also provided motion capture for Caesar\u2019s scenes as a toddler on the same movie,\u00a0returning to the franchise for 2017\u2019s War of the Planet of the Apes and playing a young version of Cornelius.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Planet of the Apes<\/em> films were incredibly formative for me, because they introduced me to a completely different way of performing,\u201d Dalton says. \u201cYou\u2019re building a character physically from the ground up and studying posture, weight distribution, behavior, and how that character exists in their environment. It could be incredibly physical. You\u2019re spending long periods moving in ways that aren\u2019t natural to a human body; often down on all fours, repeating movements and maintaining that physicality take after take. But I absolutely loved it. A fun fact is that the vocal sounds of the ape characters I played are also mine. It turns out I can make some pretty great chimpanzee noises!\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI woke up in New Zealand to my phone blowing up, because Matt Damon had apparently been talking about my arms,\u201d recalls Dalton, who had been praised during the Oscar winning actor\u2019s appearance on the HappySadConfused podcast<\/a> with Joshua Horowitz. During the show, Damon pulled back the curtain on why his biceps looked so great in certain scenes. \u201cSo, my double was a woman, a female stunt performer.\u201d he revealed. \u201cWho had the greatest arms I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Dalton explains that she found Damon\u2019s words to be incredibly flattering. \u201cI\u2019ve trained consistently for years, and I genuinely love being strong,\u201d she explains. \u201cGetting the opportunity to stunt double for Matt was also pretty surreal. Historically, we\u2019ve seen men doubling women quite a lot in the stunt industry, so I love the fact that we\u2019re now seeing women getting opportunities to double men too.\u201d For her part, Dalton learned a lot from her experience of working with Matt Damon, noting that despite his stature in the industry, he was \u201cdown to earth\u201d and \u201crespectful,\u201d carrying himself in a way that puts a lot of attention into the details of what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n \u201cI love body weight training because you can do it almost anywhere, anytime,\u201d explains the well traveled star. \u201cPull-ups, chin-ups, dips, and push-ups have built my upper body more than anything else,\u201d she reveals. \u201cI also love boxing for cardio and arm definition. It\u2019s an amazing way to build endurance, coordination and power, while keeping the workouts fun and dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n In the gym, Dalton is a proponent of cables. \u201cI love using cable machines on upper-body days, because they keep a constant tension on the muscles and allow you to work through different angles,\u201d she explains. \u201cFor someone wanting to build upper-body strength and definition, I would start with two upper-body sessions per week, with at least a couple of days between them,\u201d adds the actor. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to destroy yourself in the gym every day to make progress. Consistency, progressive overload, good nutrition and recovery are what make the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Working out, boxing, and practicing martial arts has not only honed Dalton\u2019s body for Hollywood, but sweating it out on a consistent basis has also given her the mental prowess to meet life\u2019s personal challenges head-on. \u201cI lived through extreme physical and mental domestic violence in my twenties, and finding martial arts gave me a sense of strength, confidence and self-defense that I believe every girl and woman deserves to have,\u201d explains the strong female. \u201cMy only regret is that I didn\u2019t start younger. Being able to physically defend yourself is such a crucial skill for women. It isn\u2019t about living in fear; it\u2019s about feeling capable, aware and empowered in your own body.\u201d<\/p>\n To follow Devyn Dalton on Instagram, click here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nDevyn Dalton has the \u2018Greatest Arms\u2019 that Matt Damon Has Ever Seen<\/h2>\n
What Is Devyn Dalton\u2019s Upper-Body and Arm Training Routine?<\/h2>\n