Yale drama grad Lupita Nyong’o admitted she ‘had no idea what The Odyssey was’ after being cast as Helen of Troy

"I really had no idea what The Odyssey was," she told Elle Magazine in a recent interview. "I was like, 'oh, snap, I don't know the first thing about this.' So it was a crash course. I picked up the books and read them immediately. I have this film to thank for my Greek mythological education." She read The Odyssey, she revealed, and listened to the audiobook of The Iliad, read by Audra McDonald. "It is the best audiobook I have ever listened to."

Criticism followed her casting as she is African and the character is a woman from ancient Greece. Some media figures, such as The View's Sunny Hostin, attempted to make the claim that the ancient Greeks were black. "If you think Helen of Troy cannot be black, you don't know history," she said. Others, however, remarked that it is a rewriting of history to portray Helen of Troy as an African woman.

In response to the critique, Nyong'o said The Odyssey is "a mythological story," going on to say, "I'm very supporting of Chris' intention with it and with the version of this story that he is telling. Our cast is representative of the world. I'm not spending my time thinking of a defense. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not." She followed up those thoughts, saying, "It's quite something to be 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."

"I was so deeply honored to be entrusted with the role," she said. "I mean, she is iconic, What more can I say?" She was asked about the role and what it means to play a part where a character's storied beauty has been passed down through centuries. "You can't perform beauty," she said.

"I want to know who a character is," she went on. "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."

Nolan had his heart set on Nyong'o to play the woman whose face sank a thousand ships. "The strength and poise were so important to the character of Helen," he said. "And Lupita makes it look effortless. I'm sure there's a tremendous amount of discipline and training that goes into projecting that kind of poise and feeling the emotion bubbling beneath the character, the layers of the character right there underneath. She's just an incredible person to work with, and I was absolutely desperate for her to do the part."

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