Matt Damon Calls Charlize Theron a Genetic Marvel

's The Odyssey costar had some very flattering things to say about her.

When asked by the summer issue of Elle magazine what he thinks of the South African beauty, he did not hold back.

'By the way, I don't know why only one of us aged. She won the genetic lottery,' Damon said with a laugh. 

'She's somebody I've always really rooted for because if you know her, it's impossible not to root for her. She's just a formidable woman and a great, great actress.' 

Theron last worked with Damon 26 years ago on The Legend of Bagger Vance. 

Now she is playing a goddess opposite Damon's the titular protagonist, the Greek king of Ithaca, Odysseus, in The Odyssey, which is directed by .

The 50-year-old actress has the starring role of Calypso, the divine sea nymph and Titaness who was exiled to the mythical island of Ogygia.

She is thrilled with the character. 

'I was given a chance to do something that I haven't had a ton of opportunity to do, because she's a little bit of everything,' noted the Oscar winner. 'That's what's so beautiful about her.'

And she related to Calypso's loneliness. 

'Even though she's a goddess, she is really longing for connection. And it was interesting to look at somebody with the powers that she has, but who still really couldn't do that much with them,' noted Theron.

'And not that I want to make a direct correlation to it, but there's something to be said about women living their lives today in a powerful manner, and yet a lot of our rights are being taken away every single day.'

She is also in Apex from director Baltasar Kormákur. 

The actress trained with legendary climber Beth Rodden to prepare for her role as a grieving rock climber on a punishing trek into the Australian wilderness. 

The star estimates about 98 percent of the climbing—including the harrowing free solo climb out of a gorge at the film's climax—was her own. 

Theron said the work was hard, but she is not complaining. 'This was one of the best experiences that I've ever had,' she said. 'It is special when you get to shoot in locations like that and really feel affected by them. You're not manufacturing anything. 

'And I loved the team and I really loved working with Baltasar. I think all of us had a certain personality of wanting to push harder. And when you put a group of those kinds of people together, it's pretty amazing what they can accomplish.'

She also produced Apex.

'I knew pretty early on that I didn't want to just go and act and then go back to my trailer and wait for the next scene,' she said. 

'But I have felt, maybe more honestly, in the last year that there is an element that I can't deny of wanting to have a certain amount of control over my work. For me, collaboration is one of the most important things about creating, but I like having a title, a job where I can step in and try to protect the thing that we originally set out to make. Sometimes that was hard for me earlier in my career.'

She also talked her two children, who are almost 11 and 14. 

'They both have really big, good hearts. It's not necessarily through my work, but I can tell that they're thinking outside of their own bubble, and that to me feels good as a mom,' Theron said. 

Her girls keep her in line—'when I get too big for my britches, they surely let me know that I'm supposed to make lunch for them at 6:00 a.m.' she said.

And she works hard to keep them grounded. 

'I tell them, "Just you be you." It's so much harder for girls these days, I think, than when I was a teenager. When they get lost in it, I remind them they're such powerhouses,' she said.

'They just need to remember that. Stay there. That's probably the daily thing I remind them of—and to unload the dishwasher.'

She also shared the philosophy she lives by. 

'So my philosophy—which I think comes from my dance background—is that you are going to work really hard at this and then you're going to have one shot onstage, so you'd better give it everything you have,' she says.

'It does apply to everything in your life in a weird way. If you're going to clean a floor, don't just do half of it—finish the job properly. If you're going to do it, do it right, do it to the max. Don't f*** around.'