Paramount/Universal
The Odyssey is set to be Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o’s first starring role since featuring in A Quiet Place: Day One back in 2024. Thus, before Christopher Nolan, Day One filmmaker Michael Sarnoski is the director she’s most recently worked with.
Speaking with BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new A24 film The Death of Robin Hood, writer and director Michael Sarnoski waxed lyrical about Lupita Nyong’o’s world class talent as an actress and his experience working with her.
A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski heaped praise on Lupita Nyong’o when recalling his experience working with her
In recent months, Nyong’o has been facing criticism from a vocal minority on social media over her casting as Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra in The Odyssey, which will hit theaters on July 17.
“Lupita was incredible. What I most remember is her intense commitment to the physicality of the character. Yes, we’re making this invasion movie where we’re running around in the streets — but there was always this honest conversation about: this is a dying person. And she leaned so hard into that. Constant pain and weakness while still finding this deep, profound strength in the character,” Sarnoski recalled.
“Tracking her deterioration, and also the weird opening up of the spiritual and emotional side of the character as she’s physically deteriorating — that’s a really hard thing to do when you’re shooting out of order with set pieces flying at you. She had such profound focus on that,” he continued.
“And a lot of it came from how studious she is. She goes through the script in so much detail, asks so many good questions, and if you don’t have a good answer, she will call you out. ‘No — that doesn’t track.’ She held my feet to the fire on understanding where Sam was throughout. I love an actor who’s going to ask the questions they need and won’t take the easy answers. She was incredible, focused, and so smart.”
The Death of Robin Hood stars Hugh Jackman in the lead role of the legendary bandit. Alongside Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe also star in The Death of Robin Hood, which will hit theaters on Friday, June 19. You can check out the official trailer for the film below.