Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a monumental achievement in filmmaking, but what drives the visual spectacle home is the litany of incredible performances from the ultra-talented cast. With so many A-list stars scattered across Nolan’s box office record-breaking epic, conversations abound about who shines the brightest in their roles. It’s impossible to rank them given their varying screen times and drastically different responsibilities to the script (although that hasn’t stopped some publications from absurdly trying anyway), perhaps the most underappreciated, or at least most misunderstood, performance belongs to Tom Holland.
The 30-year-old English actor is featured prominently as Telemachus, the son that grows from a boy to a man over the course of Odysseus’ 20-year journey home. Holland’s performance captures Telemachus during the final few days of his father’s journey home, and sees him transition from a meek target of ridicule and bullying from his mother’s suitors to a courageous ally in his father’s battle to remove them from his home (or the mortal coil). While praise has been given to Hathaway, Damon, and many of the terrific supporting cast, a section of the internet has decried Holland’s performance as inferior, which is simply incorrect and as misguided as the various ill-fated attempts to boycott The Odyssey.
Tom Holland’s Performance Completely Serves the Script
The scene most commonly referred to in criticism of Holland’s performance is undoubtedly Telemachus’ interaction with his mother Penelope, in which Anne Hathaway delivers a brilliant moment of frustration, rage, and grief. As she screams in his face and criticizes him as a child and an unfit heir to his father’s throne, Holland remains stone-faced and quiet. That lack of emotion has been misinterpreted as him being “outacted” by Hathaway, when in fact he’s delivering exactly what the script asked of him as Telemachus.
It is not intended to be an intense back-and-forth between mother and son, but rather 20 years of grief and anger boiling over for Penelope that Telemachus simply must endure and understand. Holland is a victim of the contrast frequently in the movie, as the unobservant moviegoers compare him as a young, unconfident young man to the charismatic sliminess of Antinous, the brazen bluster of Menelaus, or the wizened subtlety of Eumaeus. As Telemachus, Holland is specifically not supposed to “match” these performances, but rather appear as a lesser personality in the face of these larger-than-life characters. In that regard, Holland’s performance is pitch-perfect.
Tom Holland’s Best Scenes Are Quiet Moments in an Intense Movie
That’s not to say Holland’s performance is devoid of its own moments of brilliance. Unfortunately, Holland once again falls victim to the intensity of other performances in comparison to his own understated work. Where Matt Damon screams from the torment of the Sirens, Penelope’s tears and anger rise to the surface, or Samantha Morton slinks across her cottage while twisting men into swine, Holland shines in moments that are quiet in comparison to the metaphorically (and literally) loud movie.
The top highlight is Holland’s facial acting when he finally recognizes his father. As Telemachus leads the mysterious stranger who fought with his father to his home to execute a plan to excise the suitors from the palace, he stops when his father’s dog wags his tail in his final moments when approached by Odysseus in disguise. Holland’s eyes water, his emotions completely shift from steely determination to silent joy and admiration, and he shares a beautiful moment with his father. Right away, he switches back to business, although now with a churlish and knowing confidence. It’s the ultimate example of casual movie fans equating “loud” with “good” when it comes to acting.
Tom Holland Is Able to Convey Telemachus’ Growth With His Performance
One of the best elements of Holland’s performance is hard to even digest with only a single viewing. When Telemachus is introduced to the audience, he is the definition of a boy, easily baited into confrontation by the suitors only to be swiftly put in his place (which is literally underfoot). He follows his mother almost like a puppy coming to heel after a parent’s bark, and exudes inexperience, even when practicing hand-to-hand combat with Eumaeus and Mentor.
By the end of the movie, Telemachus’ entire persona has changed. Beginning with confidently striking out on his own secretive journey to find news of his father, he begins to feel less like a boy and more like a prince. By the time he formally meets his father, he is a confident, courageous young man who stands ready to assume his father’s throne. The sharp before-and-after contrast is striking, and every bit of it is possible because of Holland’s subtle yet precise performance.
Holland Holds His Own Among Some of the Best Actors of This Generation
Despite what reactionaries and content creators want you to believe, Holland stands toe-to-toe with some of the most brilliant performers of this generation as Telemachus. He fits perfectly into the cast thanks to his subtle, perfectly understated execution of the role required for The Odyssey as Christopher Nolan interpreted it, and at no point does he feel out of place when sharing the screen with Anne Hathaway, John Leguizamo, Matt Damon, or Robert Pattinson. Time will be kind to Holland, as higher scrutiny will certainly allow for a better general understanding of his performance.
- Release Date
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July 15, 2026
- Runtime
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173 minutes
