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Christopher Nolan is not exactly known for handing out praise like Halloween candy. Part of his public image is built on precision, intensity and the sense that getting a simple “good” from him on set might feel like winning a tiny acting Oscar. So when Zendaya apparently earned a “perfect” while making the forthcoming The Odyssey, Matt Damon and Tom Holland were in their feelings. What I did not see coming was Nolan trolling them this hard.
Damon has worked with the prestigious filmmaker multiple times, while Holland is joining the director’s orbit for the first time in the upcoming 2026 movie release. Apparently the director’s praise for Zendaya became a talking point on set. Rotten Tomatoes shared a clip from Fandango’s Big Ticket interview on Instagram, where Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Matt Damon and Nolan sat down to discuss the new movie. During the conversation, the cast brought up Nolan’s praise for Zendaya’s performance as Athena in The Odyssey. You can see the post below.
The setup here comes from Damon, who previously talked about what it was like to work with the Oppenheimer director and how rare that kind of praise apparently is. According to the writer and star of Good Will Hunting, Nolan is not a director who showers actors with excessive praise. A “good” from him means you did the job. A “great” sounds like it might require paperwork. So when Zendaya got “perfect,” Damon and Holland were basically left staring at each other like two kids who just found out someone else got extra recess.
The Rip performer summed up the jealousy pretty beautifully. He said:
She got a ‘perfect’? I’ve never even gotten a ‘great.’
That is such a specific actor complaint, and I love it. Damon is an Oscar-winning performer who has been in some of the biggest movies of the last few decades, and yet here he is, spiritually pacing the set because Zendaya unlocked the rare Nolan achievement badge. Holland apparently joined him in the grievance, which makes the whole thing even better. Imagine two major movie stars comparing report cards while the young Dune actress is off somewhere being Athena.
Then the Oscar-winning filmmaker was asked which scene of Zendaya’s had earned the “perfect,” and this is where the whole thing becomes glorious. He could have answered seriously. He could have named a specific scene, talked about the emotional weight of the moment or given some thoughtful director explanation. Instead, he delivered this:
I don’t remember which one. She was always perfect.
For the Euphoria star, that is an enormous compliment. She is playing Athena, which is already a pretty intimidating assignment, and hearing Nolan speak about her performance that way is no small thing. The role puts her in the middle of one of literature’s biggest stories, surrounded by a massive cast that includes Damon, Holland and a whole fleet of major names.
Of course, this is not where the auteur filmmaker left things. He continued:
I felt guilty when I first heard that they were complaining about it. And then I realized it’s kind of on them, not me.
Okay, the Dark Knight director has jokes. Everyone is laughing, but it must be quietly devastating, because Nolan does not even have to raise his voice or wink at the camera. He just calmly says Zendaya was always perfect, which means Damon and Holland’s entire complaint gets launched into the sun.
For Damon and Holland, though, this is now part of the behind-the-scenes lore. They can keep chasing that “perfect,” but Zendaya already seems to have the crown, which makes me even more excited to catch her performance in the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation.
The British-American moviemaker has also emphasized that The Odyssey is the first feature film to be shot entirely in IMAX. So if that format is available near you, it may be worth grabbing a big ol’ Trojan horse popcorn bucket and seeing it on the largest screen possible.
The Odyssey hits theaters July 17, so check your local listings for showtimes.
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