Zendaya Was So Cold Filming The Odyssey She Couldn’t Even Say Her Lines, But Christopher Nolan Still Said She Was “Always Perfect”
Zendaya has opened up about a difficult first day on the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, revealing that extreme cold conditions in Iceland made it nearly impossible for her to deliver her dialogue.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Zendaya said the experience was especially intense because she was already feeling the pressure of working on her first Nolan film. She explained that she had prepared her lines carefully, but the freezing weather made things unexpectedly difficult. “Here’s the thing. I had my lines and I wanted to have them so down. I psyched myself out a little bit,” she said. “It was particularly cold. It was in Iceland. My mouth was just frozen. There is nothing coming out. My mouth would not move. Literally. It came out like, ‘Blah blah blah.’ So embarrassing.”
Zendaya, who plays the Greek goddess Athena in the film, said she still tried to stay focused despite the conditions. She described the experience as overwhelming but also meaningful, especially because of the cast and crew she was working with. “But I will say, I think just showing up in any situation like this… It was such a pleasure and a gift to be able to share scenes with people you admire,” she said. She added that she had to stay locked in and treat the work seriously even while feeling mentally and physically thrown off by the environment.
Despite the rough start, Christopher Nolan had nothing but praise for her performance. In a separate interview with Fandango, Nolan said Zendaya was “always perfect” during filming. He emphasized the consistency of her work and even joked about how strong her performance was compared to others on set. “She was always perfect. Always perfect,” Nolan said, adding, “I felt guilty when I first heard they were complaining about it, but then I realized that’s kind of on them and not me.”
Nolan has previously explained his casting choice, saying Zendaya brought the right presence for a character like Athena. He described her as having an “iconic” quality and said she was a natural fit for a role tied to mythology and larger-than-life storytelling.
Zendaya wasn’t the only actor adjusting to Nolan’s unusual production style. Tom Holland, who plays Telemachus, also admitted he was confused on his first day of filming. He told Fandango that he initially thought Nolan was unhappy with his performance because the director kept cutting takes early. He later learned it was due to the limitations of IMAX cameras, which can only run for a few minutes at a time before needing to be reset.
Once he understood the technical setup, Holland said the experience made much more sense, but at the time it left him second-guessing himself.
The Odyssey continues production with its large ensemble cast and ambitious shooting schedule, with Nolan once again using large-format cameras and on-location environments to bring the epic story to life. The film is currently set to release in theaters on July 17 via Universal Pictures.
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