Samantha Morton opens up on Christopher Nolan’s Heath Ledger comparison

Samantha Morton has described Christopher Nolan’s comparison between her performance in The Odyssey and Heath Ledger’s iconic role in The Dark Knight as “very moving.”

The Oscar-nominated actress, 49, stars as the enchantress Circe in Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of Homer’s epic poem and said the praise meant a great deal because of the deep respect she has for Ledger as an actor.

Nolan recently revealed that Morton received a spontaneous round of applause from the crew after completing one of her scenes.

He said his wife and producing partner, Emma Thomas, compared the moment to the reaction Ledger received while filming The Dark Knight.

Speaking at The Odyssey’s New York premiere, Morton reflected on the comparison and explained why it was such an emotional honour.

“I have a slight connection to Heath where we nearly did a movie together and didn’t, and I spent some time with him,” she said.

Morton added that calling herself a fan of Ledger did not fully capture the admiration she had for him as a performer.

“The word ‘fan’ diminishes how I felt about him as an actor because I respected him as an actor and as a presence,” she said.

She praised Ledger’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the Joker, describing the performance as “vulnerable” and “multidimensional.”

“I think his interpretation of the Joker was so vulnerable and so multidimensional it blew me away. And I think so that’s an honour,” Morton said.

Nolan previously recalled the reaction to Morton’s performance, saying the cast and crew gave her “a great round of applause” after she finished filming the scene as Circe.

The filmmaker explained that Thomas remembered the last time such a response happened on one of his productions was during Ledger’s work on The Dark Knight.

Ledger, who died at age 28 in 2008, received widespread acclaim for playing the Joker and was posthumously awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2009.

He became the first actor to win an Oscar for a performance in one of Nolan’s films, a record later matched by Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer.

The Odyssey has already generated significant attention ahead of its theatrical release, with a star-studded cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Benny Safdie and Himesh Patel.

Morton also praised the atmosphere on set, saying Nolan brought together a particularly supportive group of performers.

“They’re like the nicest bunch of people,” she said, adding that Nolan had created an environment filled with “kind and generous” collaborators.

Nolan’s adaptation follows Damon’s Odysseus as he attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, encountering mythical figures such as Circe during his dangerous journey.

The film marks the director’s first feature following the success of Oppenheimer.