Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has wound up with a few controversial casting choices. Travis Scott playing one of the suitors loitering in Odysseus' house, for example, but perhaps none have drawn the ire of the internet quite like Lupita Nyong'o's casting as Helen of Troy, as well as her sister Clytemnestra. It's Nyong'o playing Helen that has people particularly riled, as many see the face that launched a thousand ships as the most beautiful woman in the world.
Nyong'o, though, wasn't keen to just be a pretty face. "You can't perform beauty. I want to know who a character is. What is beyond beauty? What is beyond looks? That's the thing about doing such a well-known text, which has been studied and interpreted and derived from. The research could be endless. The good thing about working with a writer like Chris is that it's on the page. The investigation starts with the pages you're given. That's what I based it on," she told Elle magazine.
The actress wasn't willing to give away many details about the film itself, but she did address the controversy around her casting. "Our cast is representative of the world. I'm not spending my time thinking of a defence. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not," she said. "It's quite something to be a part of The Odyssey, because it is so grand. It spans worlds. So that's why the cast is what it is. We're occupying the epic narrative of our time."
Christopher Nolan, the film's director, never had any doubts about casting Nyong'o. "The strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen. And Lupita makes it look effortless," he said. That probably won't stop certain people on the internet from hating the choice, as they've always got to find something new to be mad about.