The Odyssey Cast Guide: Meet the Actors Behind Christopher Nolan’s Greek Epic

Maitri Modi

July 18, 2026

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arrived in theatres on July 17, bringing Homer’s ancient Greek epic to the big screen with one of the largest ensembles of his career. Shot entirely on IMAX film cameras across locations including Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and the United States, the film has already drawn glowing reviews ahead of its wide release.

The story follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, as he attempts a dangerous ten-year journey home after the Trojan War, facing gods, monsters, and countless trials along the way, while his wife and son wait anxiously back home. With a script written entirely by Nolan himself, based on Homer’s poem, the film brings together an enormous cast of Hollywood stars. Here’s a complete guide to the major characters and the actors playing them.

Matt Damon as Odysseus

Matt Damon leads the film as Odysseus, the cunning King of Ithaca whose long journey home after the Trojan War forms the heart of the story. This marks Damon’s third collaboration with Nolan, following Interstellar and Oppenheimer, but his first time as the film’s central lead. Damon has called it one of the hardest shoots of his career, given the physical demands of the role and the film’s extensive location work.

Matt Damon is an Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter, having won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting and received a Best Actor nomination for The Martian. His other major credits include the Bourne franchise, Ford v Ferrari, and Air.

Anne Hathaway as Penelope

Anne Hathaway plays Queen Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, who spends the film fending off a growing crowd of suitors convinced her husband is dead while she waits for his return. Hathaway is another returning Nolan collaborator, having previously appeared in Interstellar and played Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.

Hathaway won an Academy Award for Les Misérables and rose to fame with The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada. She has had a particularly busy 2026, also appearing in Mother Mary and The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Tom Holland as Telemachus

Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus and Penelope’s son, who grew up barely knowing his father and is now old enough to join the search for him. Holland has described the film as an absolute masterpiece and unlike anything he has worked on before.

Best known for playing Peter Parker since making his debut in the Spider-Man franchise in 2016, Holland is set to return to that role later this year in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Odyssey also marks his first film alongside real-life fiancée Zendaya outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Zendaya as Athena

Zendaya plays Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare, who serves as Odysseus’s most powerful divine ally throughout his journey, offering him guidance and protection along the way. Interestingly, Nolan chose not to depict the Greek gods in a traditional larger-than-life way in the film, instead giving them a more subtle presence tied to nature and belief.

Zendaya began her career on the Disney Channel before gaining global recognition through the Spider-Man films. She has since won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her performance in HBO’s Euphoria.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous

Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, the most aggressive and arrogant of Penelope’s suitors, who is determined to claim both her hand and Odysseus’s throne while he is away. This marks another collaboration between Pattinson and Nolan, following his lead role in Tenet.

Pattinson rose to global fame in the Twilight franchise before rebuilding his career with acclaimed performances in The Lighthouse, Good Time, and The Batman.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra

In one of the film’s most talked-about casting choices, Lupita Nyong’o takes on a dual role, playing both Helen of Troy, whose abduction sparked the Trojan War, and her sister Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon. The decision to cast Nyong’o as Helen sparked plenty of public debate ahead of the film’s release, given how central the character’s beauty is to the original myth, though Nolan has stood by the casting.

Nyong’o won an Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave and is also widely known for the Black Panther films, Us, and her voice role as Maz Kanata in the Star Wars franchise.

Charlize Theron as Calypso

Charlize Theron plays Calypso, the nymph who keeps Odysseus captive on her island for years during his long journey home, using her charm to try to convince him to stay. Theron has a long history of playing complex, powerful characters, making her a natural fit for the role.

Theron won an Academy Award for Monster and is also known for Mad Max: Fury Road, Bombshell, and the Atomic Blonde franchise.

Samantha Morton as Circe

Samantha Morton plays Circe, the sorceress who famously turns some of Odysseus’s men into pigs before eventually helping guide him further on his journey. Circe remains one of the most iconic figures from Homer’s original poem, and Morton brings a mix of menace and unpredictability to the role.

Morton has received two Academy Award nominations, for Sweet and Lowdown and In America, and is also known for her work in Minority Report and The Walking Dead.

Jon Bernthal as Menelaus

Jon Bernthal plays Menelaus, the King of Sparta and Agamemnon’s brother, whose wife Helen’s abduction by Paris set off the Trojan War in the first place. Menelaus’s story runs alongside Odysseus’s own journey, tying the wider war into the fabric of the film.

Bernthal is widely known for playing the Punisher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has also appeared in The Walking Dead, King Richard, and Ford v Ferrari.

Benny Safdie as Agamemnon

Benny Safdie plays Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces during the Trojan War, whose story is closely tied to that of his wife, Clytemnestra. This marks another reunion between Safdie and Nolan, following the actor’s role as physicist Edward Teller in Oppenheimer.

Beyond acting, Safdie is also known as a filmmaker in his own right, having co-directed films like Good Time and Uncut Gems alongside his brother Josh Safdie.

John Leguizamo as Eumaeus

John Leguizamo plays Eumaeus, Odysseus’s loyal swineherd and one of the few people who remains faithful to him throughout his long absence. Eumaeus plays a key role in helping Odysseus reclaim his kingdom once he finally returns to Ithaca.

Leguizamo is a veteran actor known for films including Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, and the Ice Age franchise, along with his acclaimed one-man stage shows.

Himesh Patel as Eurylochus

Himesh Patel plays Eurylochus, Odysseus’s second-in-command and brother-in-law on the voyage home, a cautious figure who frequently clashes with his captain over key decisions during their journey. Patel has said the role gave him a much larger and more conflict-driven part than early rumours had suggested.

Patel broke out internationally with Danny Boyle’s Yesterday and has since appeared in Nolan’s Tenet, as well as Don’t Look Up and the miniseries Station Eleven.

Mia Goth as Melantho

Mia Goth plays Melantho, a role tied to the household drama that unfolds in Ithaca during Odysseus’s long absence. Goth has built a reputation for taking on bold, unconventional roles throughout her career. She is best known for her work in horror films like X, Pearl, and MaXXXine, as well as her role in Emma.

Bill Irwin as Polyphemus

Bill Irwin plays Polyphemus, the towering Cyclops who traps Odysseus and his men in his cave during one of the story’s most famous sequences. Irwin brings his background in physical performance to the demanding role. A celebrated stage performer, Irwin won a Tony Award for Fool Moon and has appeared in films including Rachel Getting Married and the series Legion.

Elliot Page as Sinon

Elliot Page plays Sinon, a Greek soldier from the wider Trojan War story best known for convincing the Trojans to bring the Wooden Horse inside their city walls. This marks another collaboration between Page and Nolan, following the actor’s role in Inception. Page won acclaim for the breakout role in Juno and has also starred in The Umbrella Academy and the Safdie brothers’ Good Time.

The Odyssey’s enormous ensemble extends well beyond its central figures. James Remar plays Tiresias, the blind prophet who offers Odysseus guidance from beyond the grave. Corey Hawkins plays Polybus, while Logan Marshall-Green takes on the role of Melanthius. Josh Stewart plays Antiphates, and Ryan Hurst plays Mentor, the trusted advisor who watches over Telemachus in Odysseus’s absence. Jovan Adepo plays Elpenor, one of Odysseus’s crew members, and Jimmy Gonzalez plays Cepheus. Rapper and musician Travis Scott also makes a cameo appearance as a Bard, one of the film’s more unexpected casting choices.

With a cast this large, The Odyssey stands as one of the most star-studded films of Nolan’s career, bringing together longtime collaborators like Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, and Anne Hathaway alongside newcomers to his world such as Matt Damon, Tom Holland, and Zendaya. As audiences settle in for Nolan’s nearly three-hour retelling of one of literature’s oldest stories, the film’s sprawling cast of gods, monsters, and mortals gives Homer’s ancient tale a genuinely modern scale.

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