# Nolan reveals why he cast Travis Scott in The Odyssey

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/travis-scott-says-he-was-nervous-as-f-about-acting-in-christopher-nolans-the-odyssey/
- Published: 2026-07-23T05:00:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-23T11:12:31+00:00
- Original publisher: The Hollywood Reporter
- Original article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/travis-scott-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-acting-nerves-1236654348/
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Nolan cast Travis Scott to echo the Odyssey's oral-poetry origins, likening it to rap
- Scott plays bard Demodocus alongside Hathaway, Holland and Pattinson
- Scott also co-recorded closing song "When I'm Home" with James Blake

## Summary

Travis Scott has explained how Christopher Nolan cast him in a lead role in The Odyssey, describing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon how he received a surprise phone call from the director asking him to act despite having no acting background. Nolan later told Time magazine the casting reflected his wish to "nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap," framing Scott's presence as a deliberate artistic choice rather than a stunt casting.

Scott plays Demodocus, the bard who narrates Odysseus's journey and is the first face audiences see in the film, and said he grew "nervous as f" on realising his co-stars would be Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson rather than extras. His involvement extends beyond acting: he recorded the original song "When I'm Home" for the closing credits with James Blake, produced by composer Ludwig Göransson and co-written by Nolan, building on the pair's earlier collaboration on the Tenet soundtrack in 2020. The Odyssey is now playing in theatres.

## Coverage

- [The Hollywood Reporter: Nolan reveals why he cast Travis Scott in The Odyssey](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/travis-scott-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-acting-nerves-1236654348/)
- [Collider: 'The Odyssey' Is Actually the Most Christopher Nolan Film He's Ever Made](https://collider.com/the-odyssey-christopher-nolan-filmography-themes/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.