Christopher Nolans The Odyssey har vakt opsigt med et par kontroversielle valg på rollelisten. For eksempel skal Travis Scott spille en af de bejlere, der hænger ud i Odysseus' hus, men intet har vakt internettets vrede i samme grad som castingen af Lupita Nyong'o i rollerne som både Helena af Troja og hendes søster Klytaimnestra. Det er især rollen som Helena, der har fået folk op i feltet, da mange betragter "ansigtet, der søsatte tusind skibe" som verdens smukkeste kvinde.
Nyong'o var dog ikke interesseret i blot at være et smukt ansigt.
"You can't perform beauty. I want to know who a character is. What is beyond beauty? What is beyond looks? That's the thing about doing such a well-known text, which has been studied and interpreted and derived from. The research could be endless. The good thing about working with a writer like Chris is that it's on the page. The investigation starts with the pages you're given. That's what I based it on," fortæller hun til magasinet Elle.
Skuespillerinden var ikke meget for at afsløre konkrete detaljer om selve filmen, men hun forholdt sig dog til kritikken af hendes casting.
"Our cast is representative of the world. I'm not spending my time thinking of a defence. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not," udtaler hun og tilføjer: "It's quite something to be a part of The Odyssey, because it is so grand. It spans worlds. So that's why the cast is what it is. We're occupying the epic narrative of our time."
Christopher Nolan, filmens instruktør, var aldrig i tvivl om at vælge Nyong'o.
"The strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen. And Lupita makes it look effortless," udtaler han. Det vil formentlig ikke afholde visse dele af internettet fra at hade beslutningen, da de som bekendt altid skal finde noget nyt at blive vrede over.