Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has revealed why he cast rapper Travis Scott in his upcoming film The Odyssey, saying the musician’s background in rap aligned with the oral storytelling tradition of the ancient epic, according to E! News.
Christopher Nolan on casting Travis Scott in The Odyssey
Speaking in an interview, Nolan said Scott was chosen to portray a bard in the film because of the connection between oral poetry and rap music. “I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap,” Nolan said, according to E! News.
The upcoming film, slated to premiere on July 17, features Scott in a brief but notable appearance in a trailer released in January. In the clip, Scott narrates a dramatic account of the Trojan War to Telemachus, played by Tom Holland, while portraying a bard recounting the story of Odysseus, played by Matt Damon.
“A war, a man, a trick–a trick to break the walls of Troy,” Scott says in the trailer, as scenes of battle unfold onscreen. “It burning, screaming to the ground,” according to E! News.
Travis Scott’s association with Nolan
Though The Odyssey marks Scott’s first onscreen role in a Nolan film, the rapper had previously collaborated with the director on music for the 2020 film Tenet.
At the time, Nolan praised Scott’s creative contribution while speaking to GQ. “His voice became the final piece of a yearlong puzzle,” Nolan said. “His insights into the musical and narrative mechanism [composer] Ludwig Goransson and I were building were immediate, insightful, and profound.”
Scott has also previously appeared in projects including Trolls: Holiday in Harmony and Aggro Dr1ft.
All about The Odyssey
The film boasts a star-studded cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and Zendaya.
Nolan also acknowledged that some scholars of the ancient Greek text may have differing views on his adaptation, but expressed hope that audiences would embrace the film, according to E! News. “Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything,” he said.