Christopher Nolan has made some pretty epic films, but his next movie will literally be one of the most famous epics in history. He’s taking a world-class cast around the globe to bring Homer’s The Odyssey to the screen. We already know a lot of the actors who will star in the big-budget blockbuster. We also know all of the characters in Homer’s epic poem. What we don’t know is who will play who in the cast of The Odyssey. That is to say, what roles are going to which actors remains a mystery. Who will play Athena and Circe? Telemachus and Tiresias? The Suitors? Conversely, just who will Zendaya play in The Odyssey? These are our best guesses for which parts the incredible cast of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will play in the film.
Matt Damon as Odysseus — CONFIRMED
After multiple supporting roles in his films, Matt Damon seems poised to finally lead one of Christopher Nolan’s movies. And that means he’ll become the second member of Danny Ocean’s crew to play Odysseus on the big screen. (George Clooney played Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?) Odysseus is cunning, brave, and a great warrior, a role right in Matt Damon’s wheelhouse.
We Guessed Right About This The Odyssey Casting
Our prophecy came true. Matt Damon is indeed confirmed to play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey movie. Will we have such fortune with our other casting choices? Only time will tell. But for now, we can enjoy this first-look image from The Odyssey, which features Damon in the lead role.
Anne Hathaway as Penelope
We couldn’t play “Who Plays Who in The Odyssey” without casting Penelope. Odysseus’ loyal wife is just as cunning and brave as her husband. She’s also great at hiding her true intentions. She spends years tricking her suitors into thinking she’s vulnerable enough they can take advantage of her without realizing she’s delaying marrying any of them. It’s a part that requires both a softness and a sternness that are equally believable, and Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway is the perfect actress to play Penelope.
Tom Holland as Telemachus
Odysseus’ son Telemachus is almost the co-protagonist of The Odyssey. He sets out on his own journey to find his long-missing father. Telemachus is young yet motivated and noble. He’s also only 20 in Homer’s epic poem, and the baby-faced Tom Holland still looks right for the part. It’s also a part that requires a star that won’t look out of place next to his famous parents, and Holland certainly qualifies. If Christopher Nolan does cast Tom Holland as Telemachus, we bet Holland’s The Crowded Room hair may make a reappearance.
Lupita Nyong’o as Circe
One of the best, most memorable characters in all of The Odyssey is the enchantress goddess Circe. She transforms Odysseus’ men into pigs, keeps them there for a year, and is absolutely alluring the whole time. She’s one of the best, most interesting witches in all of literature, and a role like that deserves one of the best, most interesting performers in Hollywood, like Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. She would make for an amazing Circe actress in Christoper Nolan’s movie.
Benny Safdie as Polyphemus
Polyphemus is the big, dumb, man-eating cyclops son of Poseidon who “No Man” blinds to escape the giant’s cave. Odysseus’ hubris after pulling off this daring plan is what leads to his ten years lost at sea. Polyphemus is both unintentionally funny and intimidating. He’s also a huge presence, both literally and figuratively, in the story, and Benny Safdie proved in Nolan’s Oppenheimer why he’s the only member of this cast we can see playing this part in The Odyssey.
Corey Hawkins as Poseidon
Polyphemus’ powerful dad answers his call to curse Odysseus, and we think Corey Hawkins could answer the call to play the Olympian. The handsome Straight Outta Compton and Kong: Skull Island star can command a screen the way a god needs to, and he also has the intensity needed to play the rulers of the seas whos presence is felt throughout the story even when he’s not around. Plus, after The Last Voyage of the Demeter, he has personal experience with ill-fated journeys on the water.
Himesh Patel as Aeolus
The Greek god of the winds has a small but important role in The Odyssey. He helps Odysseus by gathering all the winds of the sea into a sack, with the exception of the one wind the King of Ithaca needs to get home. When Odysseus’ paranoid men open the sack right when they can see Ithaca’s shores, sending them back to Aeolus, the God realizes Odysseus is cursed by the gods and refuses to help him again. Patel would excel in the role of a kind figure who also knows when to get out of a stronger god’s way.
Robert Pattinson as The Ghost of Achilles
Achilles didn’t survive the Trojan War, but Homer found a way to bring him back for the sequel anyway. (Imagine the reaction on epic poem message boards in Ancient Greece? They must have been furious about all the “fan service” in The Odyssey.) Odysseus speaks with the greatest of Greek warriors in the underworld, where Achilles says he hates being dead. Who would be better to play a handsome, ethereal, moody hero in Nolan’s film than Robert Pattinson? The actual Achilles wouldn’t do as good a job. He’d also be way harder to work with.*
Samantha Morton as Anticleia
Speaking of ethereal figures, The Walking Dead‘s Samantha Morton should literally be cast as a walking dead in Nolan’s The Odyssey film. Her performance as a precog in Minority Report is why we think she should appear in the underworld as Odysseus’ mother, Anticleia. She might seem too young to play the dead mother of Ithaca’s King, but ghosts can look whatever age they like in Hades.
Bill Irwin as Laertes
Odysseus’ other parent is still very much alive (and in danger) in The Odyssey, and Laertes seems like the perfect part for veteran actor Bill Irwin. Laertes might be frail at this point in his life, but he’s still a figure with gravitas because he’s more than just Odysseus’ dad. He was also one of the famed Argonauts who helped Jason get the Golden Fleece. Bill Irwin has played a lot of roles in his long career, and it would be great to see him cast as this one in Nolan’s The Odyssey movie.
Zendaya as Calypso
Would it really be something to watch Tom Holland’s real-life fiancée keep his movie dad as a sex slave for seven years? Yes. But that doesn’t mean Zendaya isn’t the best choice to play the famous nymph from the island of Ogygia. Calypso needs to be so enchanting and so beautiful that we understand why Odysseus doesn’t exactly fight as hard as he should to get home much sooner. Being trapped on an island with Zendaya would make that easy to figure out.
Elliot Page – Hermes
The god tasked with forcing Calypso to release Odysseus (by order of Athena) is the messenger of Olympus, Hermes. The trickster god and protector of travelers also warned Odysseus about Circe and gave him a herb that kept Odysseus safe from the witch’s pig potion. It’s a fun role that requires someone who looks as swift and lithe as the wind, and that’s why Elliot Page is our guess for who will play him from all the options in The Odyssey‘s cast.
John Leguizamo as Eumaeus
John Leguiazamo can play any role, and while we could easily see him as one of the annoying Suitors eating and drinking Penelope out of house and home, we think he’d be just as good in a very different role. And that’s why we think he could be cast as Eumaeus, The Odyssey‘s swineherd who is also a dear friend of Odysseus. Eumaeus spends years trying to protect Penelope and Telemachus before helping Odysseus defeat the Suitors. Leguizamo would be eminently believable doing all of that.
Jon Bernthal as Antious
Everything we said about John Leguizamo is also true about Jon Bernthal. He can play just about any type of character, including someone dashing that we’d like to see choke on his own arrogance. So we think he’ll be cast to play a character we hate the instant they open their smug mouth in The Odyssey, Antious. He’s the most loathsome of Penelope’s many Suitors, and Bernthal would eat in the role. We’d love to see him make us detest Antious.
Will Yun Lee as Amphinomus
Not every Suitor who takes up residence in Penelope’s home is a complete piece of garbage. Amphinomus actually has some redeeming traits and his fate in the story has real significance for some of the epic poem’s biggest themes. For this part we want someone good-looking charming, and sympathetic, a role that sounds perfect for Altered Carbon‘s Will Yun Lee.
Mia Goth as Ino
The talented X Trilogy star could certainly play any number of roles, but her onscreen presence makes us think she’d be perfect for one particular goddess who has her own memorable backstory. Odysseus never would have made it home if not for Ino, a mysterious figure in the epic since it’s never clear exactly why she helps him. Ino was once mortal and plays a part in many famous Greek myths. The more you learn about Ino the more perfect Mia Goth seems for the role.
Charlize Theron as Athena
…..Who else could even believably play the Greek goddess of war and wisdom? Are we sure Charlize Theron isn’t actually Athena? The Greek gods did like to come down and disguise themselves as human. Maybe Odysseus’ protector and champion has slowly been bidding her time as an Oscar-winning actress for this exact opportunity to play herself in a movie.
Is that a wild guess? Maybe, but you can’t put anything past Athena. Or Charlize Theron. And until we find out who everyone in Christoper Nolan’s The Odyssey cast is actually playing, we won’t.
*Iliad joke.
Originally published on February 5, 2025.