Samantha Morton has limited screen time in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, but the director says she made the most of it.
In a spoiler-filled interview with The Los Angeles Times, the director of the Homeric epic says he worked around Morton’s schedule to include her portrayal of the Greek goddess Circe. He’s glad he did.
“I’ve always admired Samantha’s work. She brings so much depth of thinking about her role, there are no limitations on her performance,” he told the newspaper. “After one of her takes, the crew gave her a great round of applause.”
He said he spoke afterwards with his wife and producing partner, Emma Thomas, who noted that “the last time that had happened was with Heath Ledger on The Dark Knight.”
Morton was equally effusive in her praise of Nolan.
“Christopher Nolan is obviously a master of what he does and for me, it’s utterly life-changing to get the moment to progress my craft because I’m always learning,” she told People at the film’s London premiere. “I’m 49 years old, I’m always learning, I’m always getting better. And I felt so honored and privileged to be in a situation where I could do that with a master.”
The Dark Knight was Nolan’s biggest success at the time of its release. The 2008 sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins featured Ledger as a crazy-like-a-fox version of the Caped Crusader’s clown-painted nemesis, The Joker, whose apparent madness belies an incredible gift for strategy and planning.
It is widely regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever made, if not the best.
Ledger, who died in 2008, won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance.
Samantha Morton has earned wide praise in the past for her roles in big films like Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and small ones like Anton Corbijn’s Control, in which he played Deborah Curtis, the betrayed wife of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.
Morton was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her nearly silent performance in Woody Allen’s 1999 Sweet and Lowdown, and for Best Actress for her performance as an Irish immigrant mother in Jim Sheridan’s 2002 In America.
Critics who have seen The Odyssey agree she stands out in her less-is-more role as Circe. The Independent‘s Jacob Stolworthy wrote that she “steals the show with the few scenes she’s in.”
Added Andrew J. Salazar of Discussing Film: “Samantha Morton’s sequence in The Odyssey is perhaps the best of the entire film and we’re going to be talking about it for years to come. If you know, you know. Nolan tapping into a side he hasn’t really shown before.”
Christopher Nolan on Casting Matt Damon in The Odyssey
The key actor in the film, of course, is Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus. The film follows his long journey to return home from war. Nolan, who previously worked with him on Interstellar and Oppenheimer.
“I’d worked with Matt twice before and he has such a great connection to the audience, he draws them in,” Nolan told the Times. “For this very complex character, you need an actor who disappears into parts, who is very open to the audience. You want the audience to go with him through his mistakes — and he makes a lot of mistakes. Matt was everyman for The Martian, a kind of superhero for the Jason Bourne films, and Odysseus is part everyman, part superhero.”
The Odyssey also stars Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’ wife, Penelope; Robert Pattinson as an aggressive suitor, Antinous; Tom Holland as Odysseus’ son, Telemachus; and Zendaya as Athena. The cast also includes Jon Bernthal, Travis Scott, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, and many more.
The film follows Nolan’s 2023 epic Oppenheimer, which earned more than a billion dollars at the box office and won seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr.
The Odyssey arrives in theaters July 17, from Universal Pictures.
Main image: Matt Damon as Odysseus in The Odyssey.
Editor’s Note: Updates with Morton’s comments to People.