Christopher Nolan is not a director known for easy comparisons. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he placed Samantha Morton's work in The Odyssey alongside one of his own benchmarks: the crew response to Heath Ledger on The Dark Knight.
Morton plays Circe in Nolan's adaptation of Homer's poem. The character, a mythic enchantress, carries limited screen time within a cast that includes Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, and Robert Pattinson as Antinous. But Nolan was direct about her weight in the film. "This was a massive film and she is someone who comes in and changes the dynamic," he said. "In some weird way, the film lived or died over that character. She was the fulcrum."
The moment that triggered the comparison came during a single take. "After one of her takes, the crew gave her a great round of applause," Nolan told THR. "I was talking with Emma afterwards and she remembered that the last time that had happened was with Heath Ledger on The Dark Knight." He added that Morton "brings so much depth of thinking about her role, there are no limitations on her performance."
The Odyssey opens July 17, 2026. The film runs two hours and 53 minutes and was produced alongside Nolan's longtime partner Emma Thomas by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.
