Universal Pictures has settled the biggest lingering question in its Oscar campaign for Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," confirming that Matt Damon will stand alone as the film's sole contender in the Best Actor race, while Anne Hathaway will campaign for Best Supporting Actress alongside co-star Samantha Morton.
The decision, confirmed to Variety on Sept. 22, ends months of speculation over whether Hathaway's role as Penelope - Odysseus' wife, who holds down Ithaca for a decade awaiting his return - belonged in the lead or supporting category. Universal ultimately chose supporting, setting up the possibility of two Best Supporting Actress nominations from a single film, with Hathaway and Morton, who plays the witch Circe, potentially competing directly against one another.
Damon's path is more straightforward: as the title character carrying the film's central arc, he's positioned as the movie's only above-the-title contender in a lead acting category, while co-stars Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and John Leguizamo are expected to be campaigned in Best Supporting Actor.
Penelope's storyline - years of steadfast waiting while resisting pressure to move on - has long drawn comparisons from literary scholars to themes of faithfulness found throughout Scripture, giving Hathaway's performance a resonance that predates Hollywood by roughly 2,800 years.
Nolan's first film since "Oppenheimer" swept Best Picture and Best Director at the 2024 Oscars, "The Odyssey" has already crossed $1.6 billion worldwide, cementing it as Universal's strongest awards-season contender heading into the 2027 ceremony.
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