Samantha Morton reveals why her notable turn in the Christopher Nolan blockbuster is nothing short of a “rebirth.”
When the camera cuts, the interview isn’t over. With “Cut for Time,” TODAY.com asks the burning questions our anchors couldn’t get to on-air. Christopher Nolan’s epic, “The Odyssey,” has finally landed and is already breaking box office records as fans eagerly flock to theaters to see Nolan’s sweeping adaptation of Homer’s classic poem.
, one actor in particular has been grabbing headlines, and it’s Samantha Morton. The two-time Oscar nominee, 49, has appeared in a variety of film and TV roles over the years including Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” and the AMC juggernaut, “The Walking Dead.
” But it’s her turn as Circe, the powerful goddess who seduces Odysseus and his battered crew, that’s earning“This was a massive film and she is someone who comes in and changes the dynamic,” he told the.
“In some weird way, the film lived or died over that character. She was the fulcrum.
“After one of Samantha’s takes, the crew gave her a great round of applause ... the last time that had happened was with Heath Ledger on ‘The Dark Knight,’” he added. “Without giving anything away, there’s a scene that I do that people cannot believe is not CGI, so I think the clap was —obviously, it was lovely, they were clapping Circe — but there was also this sense that ... everything that we did came together,” she said.
“And I’ll never forget it. ” After her joint interview with Charlize Theron and Zendaya, Morton stays behind in TODAY.com’s Orange Room in Studio 1A to talk about her notable turn in one of the year’s biggest movies, including why she didn’t spend a lot of time researching her famous character. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
In a recent interview, you said that doing this film with Christopher Nolan and this cast was almost like a rebirth for you. Tell me why. I think for me, being a older woman — and I primarily do independent cinema, I occasionally do a Hollywood movie — so for me to be able to combine working with a genius and an author such as Christopher Nolanbeing a Hollywood epic, it was the dream job.
I got to really flex my muscles and I’m very grateful for that. Your particular scenes are, at times, mildly disturbing. Were they intended to represent the uglier side of humanity? That’s a very beautiful question.
I think that’s a Christopher Nolan question because it’s his adaptation. He’s the filmmaker. But for me, as an actor, it felt right that you saw the truth of Circe. The role of Circe in Homer’s “Odyssey” and the Nolan film differ.
What was ideology behind the change? I think that’s a Christopher Nolan question. It’s a brilliant question. But it’s a filmmaker question.
For me, my job was just enjoying the condensed nature. It’s like the essence of Circe. How do you take this entire story and make an essence of a character? I think Chris has done the most incredible job achieving that.
The script. I did some basic research. I didn’t go in a deep dive, but I did set amounts of research on the original text.
Then there’s the Madeline book ... and then I just went, “No. I’m going to leave all of this because it’s too overwhelming. ” I don’t want to worry about other people’s opinion of her. I don’t want to worry about academics out there or classicists or whatever. I just want to be the Circe that I read in the script.
So, I took it from the script. One of your scenes, in particular, appears to be CGI. Most people are surprised when they learn it isn’t.. When you look at films like “2001” or “Interstellar,” you can see that what Chris does is innovative with how we’re moving forward in cinema.
But at the same time, not forgetting the amazing things that we have in our heritage and our history to do with special effects and amazing artists that have achieved that. In “The Odyssey,” all the characters have a distinctly American accent. Why didn’t you speak with your regular accent? Wait, is that a Christopher Nolan question?
Yes. I mean, I moved to New York when I was 19 and I’ve mostly played Americans in my career. It’s weird when I have to do a British accent now because I’m like, “Who am I? ”No challenge.
It was the best. I just was so excited every day. Challenge is an interesting word because it implies that things are difficult. It’s always a challenge to play any role because the challenge is to achieve happiness for the director.
You want to make the director happy. But with this, I didn’t see anything as a challenge. I saw everything as a golden opportunity, and I took it.
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