Lupita Nyong’o playing two roles in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

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Lupita Nyong’o attends the 2025 Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit presented by Chanel at Museum of Modern Art on November 12, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage)

Lupita Nyong’o’s role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has been confirmed.

In a new TIME magazine cover story on Nolan, it’s revealed that the actress plays not one, but two characters in the upcoming film. She plays Helen of Troy, as well as Helen’s sister Clytemnestra.

The piece says it’s one of “several striking adaptation choices” Nolan makes to Homer’s epic poem.

Nyong’o has yet to appear in the trailers for the film, which led to fan speculation about who she would play.

The Odyssey tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. He is filled with interruptions in his quest to return home to his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and his grown son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), who fights off suitors who are desperate to steal his father’s throne.

Nolan wrote and directed the film, his first since the Oscar-winning blockbuster Oppenheimer. He also produced the movie with his wife, Emma Thomas.

The Odyssey opens in movie theaters on July 17.