Christopher Nolan has done it again. While most directors rely on digital effects these days, he went the other way for his new movie version of Homer’s ‘The Odyssey‘.
He and his team found what they were looking for in a surprising place. It was a 115-foot Viking longship in Stavanger, Norway. The real-life crew of that ship did not just appear in the movie; they taught the actors how to sail.
‘The Odyssey’ Cast Endured Grueling Months-Long Boot Camp at Sea for Authenticity
The ship is called the Draken Harald Hårfagre. It is not a fake movie prop. It is a working ship that was built by a Norwegian businessman named Sigurd Aase. The builders used old-school techniques and materials from the right time period, and it was perfect for what Nolan wanted.
He told the Los Angeles Times, “We needed something wooden-hulled, built with ancient technology that could be out there in open ocean water, in giant swells. And the Draken has crossed the Atlantic.” The ship had already sailed thousands of miles, even going to North America. So it could handle the power of the sea.
For the actors who played Odysseus’s crew, it was not a fun time. It was a tough boot camp that lasted for months out on the water. Nolan wanted them to learn how to really work the ship. He said, “Odysseus’ men had to learn how to row. They had to learn how to raise the sail.” And he was right there with them. He said, “No. I’m on the ship with everybody.” He talked about how they did it: “The crew that sailed the ship became part of our movie crew. The actors joined them. They learned how to rig it, how to sail it, and how to row. They were out there for months.“
Real Ship Movement and Practical Filming Transform Actors’ Experience
Doing it this way gave the movie a real feeling that you just cannot get with green screens. Emanuel Persson, who runs the Draken, pointed out that “there is something on board that cannot easily be faked: the weight of the oak, the sound of the rigging, the movement of the sail, the crew working together in real wind and water.” The actors really went through it. Zendaya said, “I don’t have to pretend I’m on a boat. I’m on the boat, you know? Like, we are at sea.“
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Matt Damon plays Odysseus. For him, the whole thing felt less like acting and more like a real trip. Nolan also has a rule about fake beards. He does not like them. He makes the actors grow their own so they look like rough, old-time sailors. Nolan told Empire, “I’m not a big fan of wigs and fake beards. You want the physicality of real hair, so you can put a firehose on the guy and do all the things we need him to do.” Damon said, “I’d never tried to grow a beard that size… He wanted it all real.”
Nolan’s Hands-On Approach Brings Audience On Deck of Odysseus Ship
For Nolan, making it real was the most important thing. He thinks his job is to pull the audience into the world of the story. He said, “By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways.”
The director wanted people to feel like they were standing “on the deck of Odysseus’s ship.” And he got there by putting his cast and crew through the wringer on a real Viking ship in the middle of the ocean.
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