{"id":548084,"date":"2026-07-18T20:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/548084\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T20:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:36:13","slug":"samantha-morton-on-playing-circe-in-christopher-nolans-the-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/548084\/","title":{"rendered":"Samantha Morton on Playing Circe in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSamantha Morton<\/a> doesn\u2019t have a lot of screen time in \u201cThe Odyssey<\/a>,\u201d but when she shows up about halfway through the action epic, she commandeers the film. In an electrifying sequence that lasts roughly 10 minutes, Morton delivers a searing, richly textured performance as Circe, a sorcerer who transforms Odysseus\u2019 men into pigs. In Homer\u2019s epic, Circe is a beautiful temptress who toys with the soldiers for pleasure. In Morton\u2019s hands, she\u2019s a woman who has seen too much brutality and uses her magic as a safeguard against sexual violence.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy family is a military family,\u201d Morton says. \u201cWar is complicated. Men are complicated. Our relationships with men as wives, sisters, daughters are complicated. I drew on that. And there are people in my family that have been sexually assaulted and raped, and I thought of that as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPerforming the scene made her \u201ctake a good long look at the behavior of mankind and men in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Christopher Nolan asked if she would meet about his next project, Morton couldn\u2019t believe her luck. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I got the call, I started to cry,\u201d Morton remembers. \u201cThen we had a get to know you chat, and I read the script. But I didn\u2019t know if it would go any further. So when he called and said, \u2018Would you like to do it?\u2019 I was blown away. He could have anybody on the planet, and he chose me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was the kind of opportunity to work in a blockbuster alongside A-listers like Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway and a director like Nolan that Morton worried she\u2019d never get again. She\u2019s been a professional actress since she was 12, with a resume that includes everything from \u201cMinority Report\u201d to \u201cThe Whale\u201d and \u201cThe Messenger.\u201d She\u2019s also earned Oscar nominations for \u201cSweet and Lowdown\u201d and \u201cIn America.\u201d But in recent years, Morton felt the opportunities to appear in major Hollywood movies were drying up. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs you get older as an actress, roles like this are just few and far between,\u201d the 49-year-old Morton says. \u201cI still work all the time, but predominantly in independent films or on television.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFilming the sequence where Circe lures the soldiers to her cabin, drugs them and then transforms them into swine using her bare hands was a thrill. Morton loved how open and collaborative Nolan was with the actors. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s so hands on,\u201d Morton says. \u201cChris just made sure I had everything I needed and the time I needed to do what I had to do. There was an unbelievable sense of freedom and trust, and then just the gentlest, kindest suggestions and guidance to get me where I had to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe production presented some unique challenges. \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d is shot entirely with Imax cameras, which are massive, noisy and weigh 300 lbs. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would be lying if I didn\u2019t say the first take was\u2026interesting,\u201d she says. \u201cThe cameras are just immense and they\u2019re right there in your face. So at first I was like, \u2018Whoa!\u2019 But eventually I forgot about it. It became like any other camera.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Odysseus gains the upper hand on Circe, she launches into a monologue about the cruelty of men and the way they can abuse their power. Morton relished the dialogue that Nolan had written for her to deliver. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s so impactful because there\u2019s no extra meat on it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just so concise and pure.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe role serves as a reminder of Morton\u2019s power as an actress, and if there\u2019s any justice, it will lead to more meaty parts. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt felt like a rebirth,\u201d Morton says. \u201cI got to do what I do best for the best. To get the role felt like a second chance to be seen by the wider world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tIt might also mean an invitation to the Oscars. \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d opened on Friday, but Morton\u2019s work is already generating awards buzz. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf your peers feel that you\u2019re worthy of an accolade that means something, but I\u2019ve never been somebody that chased that kind of gratification,\u201d Morton says. \u201cI just love what I get to do for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samantha Morton doesn\u2019t have a lot of screen time in \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d but when she shows up about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46,34660,64098],"class_list":["post-548084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-samantha-morton","tag-the-odyssey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}