The Odyssey star John Leguizamo just gave Christopher Nolan the kind of compliment every director wants

So, Christopher Nolan has turned his hand to ancient Greek epics, and The Odyssey is shaping up to be not just another blockbuster, but potentially his crowning glory—at least if you ask one of its stars. John Leguizamo was at the London premiere recently, and he did not hold back on the superlatives for Nolan. Frankly, his praise was so unfiltered it almost outdoes the reviews Nolan usually gets from film students and internet forum dwellers.

John Leguizamo: Fanboying at Full Throttle

Talking to Variety, Leguizamo said:

"I felt like this was [Christopher Nolan's] magnum opus... He is a modern-day Homer, the modern-day innovator. He's a visionary, like a prophet. I have to say that working with him, I feel like I've done the best work of my life in acting. You know, I've always had a very hard time being really emotional on film, and this time he created such a sanctuary and such a safe space for me to be able to be that vulnerable."

Not exactly your average 'yeah, it was a great set' answer, is it?

Who Plays Who?

The cast is basically a flex. Leguizamo shows up as Eumaeus, Odysseus's steadfast mate and glorified pig-herder (don't knock it—he's more useful than most gods in this story). Matt Damon's taking the lead as Odysseus—the battered, endlessly unlucky king of Ithaca. Penelope gets Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland is turning up as Telemachus, and Antinous (one of the main troublemakers back home) is handed to Robert Pattinson.

It goes a bit wild with side characters:

• Lupita Nyong'o is pulling double duty as Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.
• Zendaya has landed Athena.
• Charlize Theron is Calypso.
• Jon Bernthal gives us Menelaus.
• Travis Scott (yes, really) is apparently a bard.

If you think this sounds like everyone in Hollywood stuck their names in a helmet and Nolan cast them all, you're not alone.

The Story (And the Budget)

It's a straight shot through Homeric legend: Odysseus desperately trying to get home to Penelope after ten years at war, menaced by gods, monsters, his own bad luck, and time. We've got the cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens luring in sailors, and the nymph Calypso aiming to detain our hero indefinitely. It is the Greek myth Greatest Hits, done with a Nolan-scale budget—by some estimates, around $250 million, which for a director who once made people argue about the physics of dreams and spinning tops, is saying something.

Universal Pictures bankrolled this entire odyssey, and if the star wattage and production scale are anything to go by, they're planning for this to be a summer event rather than just a myth retelling.

The Odyssey opens in cinemas on 17 July, 2026.