One ‘Odyssey’ Actor Actually Turned Down Christopher Nolan and Still Got the Part

Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan is putting one of the world’s oldest epics, The Odyssey, on screen with a murderer’s row of talent. As is Nolan’s modus operandi, he accomplished this completely in IMAX 70mm, and it was all captured on location, across the globe, taking advantage of some of Earth’s most spectacular landscapes. For any actor, being offered an audition to take part in one of Nolan’s endeavors is a no-brainer, so who among the Greek poem’s ensemble refused the invite — and still made it onto the roster?

It goes without saying that The Odyssey is stacked with talent. Oscar-winners Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway lead the charge as Ithaca’s King Odysseus and Queen Penelope, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Tom Holland as their son and heir, Telemachus. For Odysseus’s 10-year voyage across the Mediterranean Sea, he meets a host of characters, friends and foes alike — some with very minor moments in Homer’s tale — and all are brought to life by an ensemble of stars. The movie features Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Charlize Theron, Himesh Patel, Mia Goth, and many more.

With The Odyssey officially setting sail in theaters, Perri Nemiroff had the opportunity to sit down with one of those stars, Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Melanthius, for a new episode of Collider Forces, where they revisited some of his most memorable roles to date, and discussed how recently joining Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe, in CBS’s Marshals, continues to exceed his expectations. For this episode, however, all roads lead back to Ithaca, and Marshall-Green took us on his own odyssey, beginning with the harrowing reason behind his turning Nolan’s audition down.

Logan Marshall-Green Never Regrets Trusting His Instincts

“I got called cocky a couple of times.”

While chatting with Nemiroff about the start of his career, Marshall-Green admits, “I got called cocky a couple of times.” He’s referring to a specific few instances when he turned down roles early on — for personal reasons — and was met with pushback. He goes on to reveal that an executive once told him, “You’re the kind of actor who says no. It’s going to ruin your career… You won’t get far in your career by saying no.”

“She’s right. If you just say no, you won’t get anywhere. But if you say no, you are saying yes to your availability to other things. You can’t do everything, but you can follow your gut and your heart.”

It’s a valuable lesson he’s carried with him ever since. And clearly, he’s doing something right, because his career, despite the exec’s vaguely threatening piece of advice, eventually took him all the way to Favignana in southern Italy, where he stepped into Nolan’s The Odyssey to “be a part of the dream.”

Why Logan Marshall-Green Said No to Christopher Nolan

“Two months later, I definitely was kicking myself…”

Image via Universal Pictures

Marshall-Green has nothing but admiration and kind words for Nolan, who he agrees is one of Hollywood’s leading filmmakers still championing the spectacle and craft of moviemaking. In fact, he tells Nemiroff, “You could have told me I was going to hold a spear in the back, and I would have been fine with it because I wanted to bear witness to the process.” But after his initial audition, which he explains was a self-tape over Christmas time in 2024, Marshall-Green had to refuse Nolan’s callback for an in-person audition with a heavy heart.

“I got a call saying that he wants you to come in for a callback, but L.A. was on fire, and I had some reps who were dealing with it directly, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t bring myself to fly in. I mean, it was a dream come true callback, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t do it, and I said no to the callback and decided that just wasn’t for me — whatever that role was. I didn’t even know what it was. And two months later, I definitely was kicking myself and just having second thoughts about it for a few months.”

In January of 2025, devastating wildfires raged across Southern California, destroying homes and livelihoods. The fires were so destructive that the magnitude of their effects wouldn’t be fully realized until much later. For Marshall-Green, it was a difficult decision, but a clear one, whereas in L.A., business had to carry on as best it could. The actor even points out that the situation was eerily indicative of Hollywood’s grim situation post-COVID, post-AI, post-streaming, saying:

“Don’t get me wrong, Chris is probably the only person who can still have auditions while L.A. burns. It’s somewhat symbolic in many ways, because while the rest of the business is going that way, Chris is still at the forefront of filmmaking.”

How Logan Marshall-Green Received an Unexpected Second Chance

Turns out, following your gut pays off.

Marshall-Green admits it was a choice that haunted him for months, but eventually, he made peace with it. Then, a change of plans rewarded him with a twist of fate poetic enough for a Greek epic.

“I remember I was walking with my partner in Charleston, and I remember thinking, ‘I’m really happy.’ I remember stopping her. We were in downtown Charleston, and I just stopped her and said, ‘I’m really, really happy.’ And that’s it.

Then we got back, and that night, my team called and said, ‘Do you want to go to Italy in 48 hours to join The Odyssey?’ They let me know somebody had fallen out, and that Chris and Emma [Thomas] were hoping I would take up this role. And like I said, I was available. I’d been saying no to some stuff, thank God, and I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll be there.’ That was the audition process.”

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Don’t miss Marshall-Green’s full conversation in the video at the top of the article, where he takes us behind the scenes for his on-set experience reuniting with past co-stars like Bill Irwin and Holland, and working with and fangirling over Leguizamo.

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Release Date

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July 17, 2026

Runtime

172 Minutes

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