The Odyssey: Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, and Robert Pattinson on Breathing New Life Into a Classic

Penelope gets very mixed signals. I don't know, I think by the end they're pretty clear. It's already gone off the rails. No, it's fine, it's fine. I think his king is coming back. No, he's not. Tom and Rob, this film is astonishing. You're all impeccable in it. I absolutely loved it. One person out. Oh Rob, I was just getting excited. Sorry. For each of you, when you first read the script, what was the favourite aspect of your character that you enjoyed? And once you'd wrapped filming and experienced that character, had that changed at all? I don't know if Tom, we can start with you. I think for me it's one of the great coming-of-age stories in Western literature. And I think it felt really like the last time in my career I get the chance to sort of play a boy. It felt like a perfect kind of bookend to the first chapter of my career. And something I realised last night is the premiere to my first ever film was at the BFI in London. And I haven't had one there since. And tomorrow night we're going back there. So it feels kind of poetic. But for me, what I love about Telemachus is his journey is one of self-discovery. He's kind of pining after his dad and doesn't really know where he belongs or who he is. And throughout the course of the movie, he learns to become a man, to step up to the plate, to take the throne, but only when he's ready. And really he learns everything his mum has been telling him the entire first half of the movie, just right at the end. You had to learn it for yourself. Yeah, that's what it was. Once your dad said it. Then all of a sudden it's really wise. You're like, whoa, I get it now. And Anne, what did you love about Pinel from the start? And did that evolve as filming wrapped? Well, I love Greek mythology, so I was familiar with the story beforehand and thought I had kind of a grasp on who Penelope was. And then I read Chris's adaptation of the story and I realised that I was at square one with her. And I just love that Chris created a version of Penelope that doesn't deny what we know about her. She is patient and she is modest and she is extremely wise, but that also doesn't mean that she's not angry, angry at the suitors that are invading her home. And being wise might mean not showing all of your cards at once. She's also very cunning. The classic story about her making the conditions of the agreement with the suitors based on her finishing the shroud and then secretly undoing it. She's kind of doing the best she can with what she has to work with. And so I think that while I appreciated her before playing her, I really respect her. She put up with a lot. And one of the things I appreciate most about her is she did it with her values intact. We talk a lot about in this film that Zeus' law, I guess it's treat others as you would be treated, now we know it as do unto others as they would do unto you. And even though it's agonising to live according to that, even though she kind of wants to rip her hair out, she actually puts it in the script far better than I ever could, what she wants to do to the suitors, she respects that law because she understands it to be a cornerstone of a civilisation, a cornerstone of the world that she wants to live in. It's the thing that Odysseus is fighting for, so she thinks. I just want to touch on that. You mentioned what she wants to do to the suitors. There's mention of something she wants to do to them all, and that speech for me in the film was like one of the best pieces of acting in the film. You're all great as well. There are great moments. Thank you. It's great, but we all had great writing. Everyone has their moments. Is that something you pinpointed in the script? That line or that little speech there, was that something you were like, I want to nail that? We've all worked with James Gray, who's a fantastic filmmaker, and something he said when I got to work with him really resonated with me. He said, whatever you do, don't try to nail it. He said, I can always tell when an actor's trying to nail something. That's the last thing in the world I want. Do everything but nail it. I don't necessarily look for that whenever I'm reading something, but I did feel a power coming off of that section. Whenever I think of Grease, and whenever I think of Powerful Woman, I can't help but think of Maria Callas. I just remember thinking to myself, what would Maria do if this was an aria? That was what got me excited. Amazing. Rob, in terms of something to like about your character, I think it's fair to say, not a lot. He's entertaining, isn't he? You need to connect to the character. How did you connect to this character? I mean, it's always fun to play a character where there's such a kind of stringent value system which every single other character in the world of Odyssey kind of subscribes to. And this guy's sort of tenuous. It's like, I don't get it. Empathy? What are you all doing? And everyone struggles with their identities, and who am I? And then it's like, I don't need an identity. I just have desire, and that's it. And it's kind of, there's always a fun in playing someone who has very shallow characteristics, because you can move a lot quicker. You have no past. You don't really have a future as such. Did you develop any sort of sympathy for him as you played the character, as you got further into the film? I mean, there's a lot of ways. I mean, I was kind of joking about it earlier, but it's like, inevitably, the more I'm playing the scenes, the thinking like, I think it is falling apart. And Odysseus is dead. Like, 100%. And also, they are following Zeus's law. Like, really. Like, they're all doing what they're supposed to be doing. And also, you never say, leave. And also, I think I'm a pretty good option for Penelope too. I'm like, legitimately saying, like, I actually, I want to help out. I have a calling. I have a calling to rule Ithaca. And, you look at the other guys in the palace, and it's not too... You could do worse. I have to say my new... And I think you like me a little bit. My new favorite thing is listening to you, like, talk about Antinous. Because when you talk, I'm like, well, you do kind of make a good point. But no, I've seen him. I don't like him. Penelope gets very mixed signals. I don't know. I think by the end, they're pretty clear. By the end, but like, it's been years. You're literally like, you're like hiding. Zeus's law is precarious. You're hiding behind a little barrier, being like, showing... You spend one night at my loom, and you see what you did. What are you looming over there? Let me loominate you. You're taking ages. If Tom... If anybody... If Tom said, I'm looming, I can't show you what it is for three years. Eventually, I'm going to be like, I have to see it. There's no more of this. No matter who's doing the looming. And you come in, and you're like, that's it? Three years for that? It's not a complicated design. It's already gone off the rails. I'm sorry. No, it's fine. It's fine. Simon. It's terrible. It's fine. I would actually like to talk about a scene none of you are in, if that's okay. The Circe scene. We don't have to go into as much as what happens. Do you remember the first time you saw that? Chris has kind of delved into horror bits before, but this is kind of like a real horror scene. It's like, do you think he should make a horror film? What would that look like to you? He should make every type of film. Chris should make a musical. Absolutely. But that scene in particular. I remember when I was watching it, I thought, oh, so Chris has finally broken the rule. This has to have been done with computers, because how on earth? How on earth is that? Yeah, it doesn't make sense. So I'm just like, so in my head, I'm just like, oh, I can't wait to find out what's behind that. And then I asked him, and he said, nope, it's all practical. All practical done on the day, and I won't give away how that happened, because people should discover it for themselves. It was just a combination of ingenious filmmakers using practical effects with a brilliant actress giving an astonishing performance. It's just, I'll never forget it. It's a highlight of the film for me by far. Dom, you have some key scenes with John Bartholomew in this film. You've worked with him many times before. I was just wondering, what's the favourite day or moment you've ever had on set with John? I think our first day on the Odyssey was, felt like a sort of legendary day for the two of us. We had two days worth of work scheduled, and we got it all in one night. And it was an incredibly emotional scene. It was a huge challenge. And I think we left the set feeling like we'd really accomplished something. And I think what Chris does so well is he definitely tests you early on. And if you're able to rise to the occasion, it gives you so much confidence for the rest of the movie because you're like, it definitely can't get any tougher than that. It really does. But it just, it filled me with confidence. And, you know, I love John to death. I've known him for a really long time. But sharing the set with him as Spider-Man and the Punisher is so special because we did each other's self-tapes ten years ago. So there was so much fun that we had on that job. Unfortunately, that's all the time I have. Bless you, bless you. Excuse me, thank you. Can we just redo that? I realised I sneezed right into the microphone. Sorry about that. I thought it was on this side. That's all the time I have unfortunately, but thank you so much for talking to me. This film, like I said, is amazing. And yeah, thank you again. Thank you, Simon. Thanks a lot. Sorry we hijacked the interview. No, I love it. No, no, no. It's absolutely fine. But what do you do if he came back here and find all these suitors in his house? You're pining for a daddy you didn't even know. Like some snivelling bastard.