Christopher Nolan reveals son’s brutal dig about Oscars loss while writing ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan has revealed that one of his sons delivered a humorous observation about the filmmaker’s Academy Awards while he was writing The Odyssey, reminding the Oscar-winning director that he has yet to win for screenwriting.

Nolan shared the story during a recent interview with BBC News.

The director explained that he deliberately kept his Academy Awards out of sight while working on the screenplay for his upcoming adaptation of Homer’s epic poem, believing that seeing the trophies every day would add unnecessary pressure.

“My son walked into my office while I was writing on The Odyssey and said, ‘Where are your Oscars?’” Nolan recalled, explaining that his son had “been away” during the 2024 Academy Awards when Oppenheimer dominated the ceremony.

Nolan said he responded, “Well, I’m trying to write a new project and if I’ve got Oscars sitting there on the shelf, you know, think about how daunting that’d be.”

His son’s reply quickly undercut that reasoning.

“He looked at me, and he said, ‘But you didn’t win for writing.’”

Nolan won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for Oppenheimer in 2024. While he was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, the award went to Cord Jefferson for American Fiction. Nolan had previously received screenplay nominations for Memento and Inception.

During the BBC interview, Nolan also discussed his approach to adapting The Odyssey for modern audiences.

“I’m adapting. I’m able to do whatever I want with it, really,” he said. “I’m not bound by the language, I’m working beyond the language. I’m just looking at the story.”

He added, “I think this is why it sustains even though some of the values of it are obviously archaic and outdated. The story movements, the motifs, the ways in which human beings interact, they do have this timeless quality, and you can look at them through a modern lens.”

The Odyssey features an ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Samantha Morton and John Leguizamo.

The film is set to release in cinemas globally on July 17.