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Even in the sprawling, star-studded ensemble Christopher Nolan assembled for “The Odyssey,” John Leguizamo stands out. As Eumaeus, the blind servant who awaits the return of Odysseus (Matt Damon) while watching over his master’s wife (Anne Hathaway), son (Tom Holland) and aging dog, Leguizamo delivers a performance that is by turns shrewd and heartbreaking.
The 66-year-old actor’s career is full of major movies, including “Moulin Rouge!” and the animated hits “Ice Age” and “Encanto.” Still, “The Odyssey” stood apart from the start. “This is so much bigger than anything I’ve ever done,” said Leguizamo, whose transformation for the role included special contact lenses that rendered him nearly sightless.
“The Odyssey” appears poised for a strong awards run that could include Leguizamo, but for now, he is basking in the film’s huge worldwide box office, which he attributed in part to its diverse casting. “The movie being so beautifully inclusive means that now, this story belongs to all of us,” he said on a video call last week.
Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.
It’s astounding that you can make us feel for Eumaeus after he’s introduced throwing a puppy off a cliff.
Can you believe? I thought, I’m going to be the most reviled person in cinema history! That’s what they did with runts back then, only the strong survived. But the puppy was safe, there was somebody with a soft blanket catching it right off camera.
