Nov 07, 2026 7:00pm IST
John Leguizamo on ‘The Odyssey’ and Oscar Recognition After Four Decades: ‘Just Being Part of It Is My Award’ (EXCLUSIVE)
For John Leguizamo, “The Odyssey” is more than the latest chapter in a career spanning over four decades. It is a story he has carried since his teenage years, returning to Homer’s epic first as a high school student, then as a young man and most recently, as an actor preparing to step into Christopher Nolan’s ambitious adaptation.
Now, as his performance in the film draws industry recognition and Oscar buzz, Leguizamo sees the moment as a particularly meaningful milestone. “I’ve always been obsessed with ‘The Odyssey’,” Leguizamo tells Variety India. “It might be the beauty of the writing. It’s the beginning of Western European literature. I read it in ninth grade in high school, read it again for myself when I was 19, and then re-read it right before doing the film.”
What has kept him returning to the story is its ability to find something profoundly human within an epic that has survived for millennia. “It’s just an incredible story because 3,000 years later, here we are,” he says. “Civilizations change, technology evolves, and populations grow, but we remain the exact same human beings with the same problems, emotional requirements, war, wanting to be home with family, the love between husband and wife, the respect of your child, and navigating betrayal.”
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For Leguizamo, that universality is the secret to the epic’s extraordinary staying power. “What makes ‘The Odyssey’ so powerful is that even though it is ancient and epic, it’s still about simple human interactions. That’s why it has endured for so long.”
The film has now brought Leguizamo a new level of awards conversation, a moment he says carries special weight after a career that has taken him across film, television, theatre and animation.
“I think it’s a beautiful highlight of my career. Being in the industry for over four decades and finally getting Oscar recognition, which is the highest prize in the acting world in Hollywood, is incredible. At my age, to get this kind of recognition when fans in America, India, South America and England have always supported me, feels like the cherry on top of the sundae,” he says.
Yet, for Leguizamo, the recognition is secondary to his belief in the film itself. Having lived with “The Odyssey” for decades before becoming part of Nolan’s adaptation, he says the experience of joining a story he has admired for so long is its own reward. “I just love the movie so much. I think it’s a true work of art that will survive the test of time, which is what great cinema always does. Just to be a part of that is already my award,” he signs off.
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