Tom Holland has revealed he spent part of his first day on the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Odysseyconvinced he was doing something terribly wrong, only to discover the repeated cuts had nothing to do with his performance at all.
Speaking to Fandangoahead of the film’s 17 July premiere, Holland described the disorienting experience of working with Imax cameras for the first time, which can only run for three minutes before needing to be reloaded.
Having no idea about this technical limitation, Holland interpreted Nolan’s frequent cuts as a sign that something was going badly wrong on screen.
“Working with the Imax cameras for the first time is an experience. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I didn’t know that it only ran for three minutes. So, I remember you would continue cutting, and I was with Jon [Bernthal] like, ‘Why does he keep cutting? Why does he keep doing that?'” Holland recalled.
“And in my head, I was like, ‘Does he not like what we’re doing? What is happening?’ And then, I remember it was actually George Cottle that was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, there’s only three minutes in the mag.’ I was like, ‘Oh, thank god.’ I thought I was totally sh*tting the bed in this scene.”
The relief, it’s safe to say, was considerable.
Holland plays Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, in the film, which marks a significant milestone in cinema history as the first feature to be shot entirely using Imax cameras.
Nolan has incorporated Imax technology into his films going back to The Dark Knightin 2008, but The Odysseyrepresents the fullest realisation of that ambition yet.
The Odyssey, based on Homer’s ancient epic, follows Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, through the mythical trials of his decade-long journey home after the Trojan War, reuniting with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus.
The film also stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Mia Goth and Jon Bernthal, among many others. It opens on 17 July.
2026-07-06 01:38:00
