{"id":439549,"date":"2026-05-22T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/439549\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T06:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:00:15","slug":"lupita-nyongo-claps-back-at-odyssey-casting-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/439549\/","title":{"rendered":"Lupita Nyong\u2019o claps back at ‘Odyssey’ casting criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupita Nyong\u2019o has broken her silence on harsh criticism of her casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan\u2019s version of \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d \u2014 some of which came from Elon Musk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t perform beauty,\u201d the actress told Elle<\/a> of backlash over her role as \u201cthe most beautiful woman in the world\u201d in a profile published on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to know who a character is. What is beyond beauty? What is beyond looks? That\u2019s the thing about doing such a well-known text, which has been studied and interpreted and derived from,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cResearch could be endless. The good thing about working with a writer like Chris is that it\u2019s on the page,\u201d she added of the acclaimed director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation starts with the pages you\u2019re given. That\u2019s what I based it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lupita Nyong\u2019o, seen above in September 2024, spoke out following backlash over her casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d WireImage<\/p>\n

The \u201cBlack Panther\u201d actress told Elle magazine for a profile that \u201cyou can\u2019t perform beauty.\u201d She\u2019s seen above on a cover for the magazine. ELLE Magazine<\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o, 43, also reminded readers that Homer\u2019s epic\u00a0\u201cis a mythological story\u201d versus a historical account. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very supportive of Chris\u2019s intention with it and with the version of this story that he is telling,\u201d the \u201c12 Years a Slave\u201d actress told the magazine, noting that the \u201ccast is representative of the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not spending my time thinking of a defense,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not.\u201d <\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the interview, the model noted, \u201cIt\u2019s quite something to be a part of\u00a0\u2018The Odyssey,\u2019 because it is so grand. It spans worlds. So that\u2019s why the cast is what it is. We\u2019re occupying the epic narrative of our time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Criticism emerged online after casting details were released for Universal\u2019s epic movie, helmed by the \u201cOppenheimer\u201d director. <\/p>\n

The model also said she\u2019s \u201csupportive\u201d of director Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cintention\u201d and \u201cthis story that he is telling.\u201d She\u2019s pictured above in \u201cBlack is King.\u201d \u00a9Disney+\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o, pictured above in March, explained to the outlet, \u201cI\u2019m not spending my time thinking of a defense.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Musk took to X earlier this year to blast the decision to cast Nyong\u2019o as both Helen of Troy and Helen\u2019s sister, Clytemnestra. In January, he wrote,\u00a0\u201cChris Nolan has lost his integrity.\u201d <\/p>\n

And earlier in May, the Tesla CEO agreed with a conservative commentator\u2019s suggestion that Nolan would be branded a racist if he gave the role to a white woman.<\/p>\n

Another X user called out that the Academy Awards has implemented diversity requirements, with Musk writing<\/a> that the \u201cDark Knight\u201d director \u201cwants the awards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alec Baldwin hit back at Musk,<\/a> writing via Instagram, \u201cDear Elon\u2026 but she IS the most beautiful woman in the world\u2026Alec.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o, seen here December, was targeted over her role by Elon Musk. Getty Images for Comic Relief<\/p>\n

Nolan called the \u201c12 Years a Slave\u201d actress \u201cincredible.\u201d She\u2019s seen above in March. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Late night giant Jimmy Kimmel also lashed out in a recent monologue<\/a>, saying Musk should \u201cstay in [his] lane.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nolan, meanwhile, is standing behind his decision. \u201cThe strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen. And Lupita makes it look effortless,\u201d he told the magazine. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s a tremendous amount of discipline and training that goes into projecting that kind of poise and feeling the emotion bubbling beneath the character, the layers of the character right there underneath.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded, \u201cShe\u2019s just an incredible person to work with, and I was absolutely desperate for her to do the part.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lupita Nyong\u2019o has broken her silence on harsh criticism of her casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6946,103897,430,13626,5123,516,156,212091,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-439549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-actors","tag-casting","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-interviews","tag-celebrity-news","tag-elon-musk","tag-entertainment","tag-lupita-nyongo","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}