The Odyssey Cast: Every Actor and the Character They’re Playing

Who Is Officially Confirmed for The Odyssey Cast?

Nine actors have their casting confirmed through the film’s official credits: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Travis Scott, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. Not all of their characters have been disclosed, which is a separate question from whether they’re actually in the movie.

That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should. A studio confirming an actor is in a film is one level of certainty. A studio confirming which character that actor plays is a second, separate confirmation, and the two don’t always arrive at the same time.

“Confirmed” in this table means the actor and, where noted, the character pairing shows up in the film’s official title credits. It does not mean a press report, a wiki edit, or a trailer breakdown video. That’s the bar everything below gets measured against.

Who Plays Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus in The Odyssey?

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, and Tom Holland plays Telemachus, the three roles at the emotional center of the story. These are the only three character pairings that were locked in from the earliest official announcements, and they map directly onto the core of Homer’s plot.

Odysseus is the king of Ithaca finally making his way home after the Trojan War, a journey that in the original poem takes an entire extra decade because the gods have opinions. Penelope has spent those twenty years fending off a house full of suitors who assume her husband is dead and want his throne along with her hand. Telemachus is their son, who has grown up without a father and spends much of the story trying to figure out what kind of man, and king, he’s supposed to become.

The suitor problem is where the story gets its central conflict, and it’s also where the next tier of this cast list gets interesting. If you’re also tracking the real-life overlap in this ensemble, it’s worth knowing that two of these castmates have their own well-documented history together, which this site covered in Zendaya and Tom Holland, given that both actors landed roles in the same film.

Which Actors Are Confirmed for The Odyssey But Their Character Is Still Secret?

Zendaya, Samantha Morton, and Lupita Nyong’o are confirmed as cast members through the film’s own credits, but Universal has not officially disclosed which characters any of them play. This is the tier where most of the internet confusion actually starts, because the temptation to guess is enormous.

The Odyssey has no shortage of major female roles to assign these three actors to. Circe, the witch who turns Odysseus’s crew into pigs, and Calypso, the nymph who keeps him on her island for seven years, are both large, meaty parts that a studio would cast a name actor for. Athena, the goddess who spends the whole epic quietly steering Odysseus’s fate, is another obvious candidate.

The honest answer is that nobody outside the production knows yet which of these three actors lands which part. Any article assigning Nyong’o or Morton to a specific goddess or witch role right now is making an educated guess dressed up as a fact, and that’s exactly the gap the next section covers in detail.

Which Reported Pairings for The Odyssey Are Still Unconfirmed?

Entertainment outlets have reported that Charlize Theron plays Calypso, Samantha Morton plays Circe, and Jon Bernthal plays Menelaus, but none of these three pairings have appeared in the film’s official credits or its listed cast information. These are the names most likely to get quoted as settled fact somewhere online, and they’re exactly the ones that shouldn’t be.

The difference between this tier and the confirmed tier isn’t small. A studio’s own credits list is a primary source. A press report citing an unnamed insider, or a fan wiki assigning a role because it fits the mythology, is a secondary guess that may turn out to be right and may not.

There’s a real reason to be cautious here beyond general nitpicking. A fan-run wiki page tracking this production has assigned Nyong’o to two different roles at once with no studio sourcing behind either claim, which is the kind of contradiction that spreads fast once a headline strips out the hedge words. If a name shows up in this table, treat it the way you’d treat a rumor from a friend of a friend: plausible, worth remembering, not yet worth repeating as settled fact.

Why Robert Pattinson’s Antinous Casting Actually Matters

Robert Pattinson playing Antinous matters because the character is the story’s primary human antagonist, and casting him well determines whether the middle stretch of the film has any tension at all. Antinous isn’t a monster or a god. He’s a guy in Penelope’s own house, trying to marry her by attrition while eating through Odysseus’s estate.

That’s a very different kind of villain than the cyclops or the sirens Odysseus fights on his journey home. Antinous requires charm, patience, and a believable sense of entitlement, which is a tall order for an actor who’s spent a chunk of his career playing broody outsiders. If Pattinson pulls it off, Antinous becomes the reason the Ithaca half of the story doesn’t feel like a placeholder between the mythological set pieces.

Why Is The Odyssey’s Cast Such a Bigger Deal Than a Normal Ensemble?

This cast is a bigger deal than a typical ensemble because the production behind it is unusually large in scale, with a reported $250 million budget and a filming format that has never been attempted before on a feature. Universal is treating this less like a single tentpole release and more like an event, and the casting reflects that ambition.

The film was shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film, which no feature production had done in full before this one. That format choice alone explains part of why the studio needed A-list names across nearly every major role. A cast this stacked isn’t padding, it’s insurance for a production this expensive and this technically ambitious.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who plays Odysseus in The Odyssey 2026 movie?

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca returning home after the Trojan War. This pairing is confirmed through the film’s official title credits, not a press report. It’s one of only four character pairings, alongside Hathaway’s Penelope, Holland’s Telemachus, and Pattinson’s Antinous, that Universal has officially disclosed so far. For a deeper look at Pattinson’s range beyond that role, see Robert Pattinson’s other roles.

Is Zendaya confirmed for The Odyssey?

Yes, Zendaya is confirmed as part of the cast through the film’s official credits. Universal has not disclosed which character she plays, so any article naming her specific role right now is reporting a guess, not a confirmed fact. The same is true for Samantha Morton and Lupita Nyong’o.

Does Charlize Theron play Calypso in The Odyssey?

Charlize Theron has been reported by entertainment outlets as playing Calypso, but this pairing has not appeared in the film’s official credits or cast listing as of this writing. Theron’s presence in the cast is confirmed. The specific character assignment to Calypso is currently a press report, not a studio confirmation.

Why don’t we know everyone’s role in The Odyssey cast yet?

Studios often confirm that an actor has joined a production before confirming which character they’re playing, especially for a film built around surprise reveals or marketing rollouts. Nolan’s productions in particular are known for tight information control. The gap between “cast confirmed” and “role confirmed” can last months.

Is Jon Bernthal actually in The Odyssey?

Jon Bernthal’s casting as Menelaus has been reported by entertainment press, but it does not currently appear in the film’s official credits. That means his involvement in the project as Menelaus specifically is unverified, even though the report is widely circulated. Treat it as a likely lead rather than a settled fact until the studio confirms it directly.

The Bottom Line on The Odyssey’s Cast

The single most useful thing to take from all of this is that “confirmed” and “reported” are not interchangeable, and every outlet covering this cast benefits from you not noticing the difference. Four character pairings are locked and sourced directly from the film’s own credits: Damon as Odysseus, Hathaway as Penelope, Holland as Telemachus, and Pattinson as Antinous. Everything else involving Zendaya, Morton, Nyong’o, Theron, Bernthal, and Scott is either a confirmed actor without a disclosed role or a reported pairing still waiting on studio confirmation.

The next time a headline tells you exactly who’s playing Circe or Calypso, check whether it’s citing the studio or citing “sources familiar with the production.” One of those is a fact. The other is a bet, and a fairly public one at that.

Bookmark this breakdown and check back as Universal rolls out more official details ahead of the July 2026 release, since the undisclosed roles are the ones most likely to flip from rumor to confirmed fact with a single press release. If you’re curious what a set built for this kind of scale actually looks like in person, this site has already mapped out The Odyssey filming locations for anyone planning a trip around the release.