Travis Scott has headlined the highest-grossing solo rap tour of all time and spent years performing in front of packed stadiums. But none of that prepared him for stepping onto the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, where his first feature acting role placed him alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Standing atop a wooden table inside an ancient Italian castle, with Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and hundreds of extras watching, Scott suddenly felt like the least experienced person in the room. As cameras rolled on his feature acting debut, the rapper admitted one thought kept running through his head: “I don’t know what the f— I’m doing.”
Christopher Nolan Personally Called Travis Scott For The Role
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Scott revealed that joining The Odyssey wasn’t the result of an audition or a casting search. Instead, Christopher Nolan personally called him with an unexpected offer.
“My phone went off and it just said, ‘Chris,'” Scott recalled. “I’m thinking, like, ‘Okay… maybe he wants to go to a show?'”
Expecting a casual conversation, Scott instead found himself being asked whether he wanted to act in Nolan’s next film.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, what’s this about?’ So I pick up and he’s like, ‘Would you be interested in acting in a movie?’… I didn’t think it was for him. I thought it might be for somebody else.”
Scott was even more surprised when Nolan explained that he wanted him in The Odyssey.
“I’m like, ‘Whoa, hold on. Wait. Wait. You know I make music?'” Scott said with a laugh, adding that the director then shared his reasoning for the casting choice.
Nolan later explained to Variety that he never hired Scott because of his music career. Instead, he believed the rapper’s presence and ability to command an audience made him the perfect fit for a storyteller within Homer’s epic.
“He’s a performer, but it is a very different thing to come as an actor,” Nolan said. “I was very clear with Travis that I wasn’t hiring him as a musician.”
The director also admitted he deliberately threw Scott into one of the film’s toughest scenes on his very first day of shooting.
“I threw him into the deep end, with a cast of hundreds of extras, movie stars right there,” Nolan said with a laugh. “I said, ‘OK, Travis, jump up on the table and start reciting the Song of Odysseus and hold the attention of the room.'”
Scott Didn’t Expect To Share Scenes With Hollywood’s Biggest Stars
Even after accepting the role, Scott assumed he’d only make a brief appearance alongside background actors. Instead, he found himself sharing scenes with some of the industry’s most recognizable faces.
“I was actually nervous as ‘F,’ but it worked out,” he admitted.
Scott said he initially believed he’d appear in “maybe” one scene before discovering he’d be acting opposite Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and several other members of Nolan’s ensemble.
“I didn’t know that it was going to be Anne Hathaway, Tom and Robert Pattinson—a bunch of amazing people… I don’t know what the f— I’m doing. But they were such an amazing cast, you know?”
Despite those nerves, Scott said the cast and Nolan quickly helped him settle into the role.
“Chris is an amazing director. Everybody made me feel comfortable. I was just glad to be there and just watch him. And being in such a world of them. So I’m just glad to be here.”
Scott also revealed that acting came before music on the project. Although he eventually recorded “When I’m Home” for The Odyssey, Nolan first approached him solely about appearing in the film.
The experience also resonated with people back home. Scott said his parents, school counselor, and even his former high school theater teacher reached out after seeing him make his acting debut in one of the year’s biggest releases.
“My parents, even my school counselor. Even my theater teacher from my high school, they reached out to my mom. This is another stratosphere… The people that were always scolding you in school… they’re like, ‘You finally did something good.'”