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Christopher Nolan has defended his decision to cast rapper Travis Scott in “The Odyssey” after receiving harsh backlash over the choice.
The famed filmmaker addressed the controversy surrounding Scott’s appearance in his upcoming adaptation of the ancient Greek epic during a new interview with Time published Tuesday.
“I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap,” Nolan, 55, explained.
The 35-year-old “Sicko Mode” rapper’s role in “The Odyssey” was first revealed in an exclusive TV teaser trailer released back in January, per Deadline.
“A war, a man, a trick — a trick to break the walls of Troy,” Scott, dressed as an ancient Greek storyteller, shouts in the clip as images of the Trojan War flash across the screen. “It burning, screaming to the ground.”
But viewers quickly rushed to social media to question Nolan’s surprising decision to include the hip-hop icon in his latest flick.
“Nolan does not know what he’s doing anymore or he really really really wants an Oscar for this ‘film,'” one person tweeted following the news of Scott’s role in the movie.
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“Yep, this is gonna go as well as trying to put out a forest fire,” added another.
“If you thought the bomb in Oppenheimer was big – you ain’t seen nothing yet,” commented a third critic, while a fourth called the rapper’s casting “pretentious.”
Other viewers, however, pointed out that Nolan and Scott previously worked together on the filmmaker’s film “Tenet.”
The “Rodeo” artist’s track “The Plan” was used as the theme song for the 2020 sci-fi thriller.
“I mean, Travis did do a song for Tenet,” one fan wrote on Instagram amid the backlash.
“Tyler was in Marty Supreme and it wasn’t a big deal,” added another regarding Tyler, the Creator’s role in last year’s “Marty Supreme.”
Scott’s reps did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Elsewhere in his interview with Time, Nolan explained he once again hired a team of experts to help him make “The Odyssey” as accurate as possible — something he previously did for 2014’s “Interstellar.”
“For ‘Interstellar,’ you’re looking at: What is the best speculation of the future? When you’re looking at the ancient past, it’s actually the same thing,” Nolan said. “What is the best speculation, and how can I use that to create a world?”
The filmmaker added, “Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything. We had a lot of scientists complain about ‘Interstellar.’ But you just don’t want people to think that you took it on frivolously.”
Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is scheduled to hit theaters on July 17.
Besides Matt Damon as Odysseus, the forthcoming epic fantasy action film will also see an ensemble of A-listers, including Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Zendaya as Athena and many more.
English (US)