We know, the world of cinema is not like that of music. You may be the biggest pop star (or rock star) around but that doesn't mean you can handle the weight of the big screen. Especially if the big screen is the maxi-IMAX-70mm one as Nolan intended.
The weight of cinema made in Nolan has also affected the most important and followed rapper of the last 10 years, Travis Scott, someone who has always flirted with the epic, as demonstrated by his latest Circus Maximus and his mammoth tours that set a new bar for rap concerts. There was no promotional tour time for Odyssey (here is our review), in fact, in which the rapper, now dressed as an actor, did not want to underline one thing quite clearly: “I was fucking nervous”.
And how can you blame Travis? In addition to being in one of the most anticipated blockbusters of recent years, at the rehearsal reading table he found himself sharing the stage with heavyweights of the profession such as Matt Damon, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, just to name a few. “I didn't know that Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson would be there,” he said as a guest Tonight Show. «A group of fantastic people. I don't know what the fuck I was doing there. I didn't want people to think I was forced into this situation.”
And on the first take, he remembers: «There were all those famous actors, and I was standing on the table. But it wasn't one of those wild Travis parties, nor a simple evening with friends. No, it was serious. There was a camera right in front of me. Nolan was there. And all the actors were concentrated on their roles, completely immersed in the part.” TO VarietyNolan amusedly told the anecdote from his perspective, having in his own way deceived Scott by immediately throwing him into the center of the filming: «I threw him into the deepest water, with a cast of hundreds of extras and movie stars right there. I told him, “Okay, Travis, jump on the table, start reciting the Song of Ulysses and captures the attention of everyone present”.
Nolan continues: “I wanted someone on screen who would recite the words and capture the audience's attention in a very believable way, who we could identify with in today's world, so we understand the drama and emotion that comes from storytelling through poetry.” The director continues: «If we had considered it in too courtly terms, if we had elevated it to a higher level and if we had made it a very formal version of what a bard in the palace of Ithaca could be, I would have found it alienating».
Scott is called to open and close Odyssey from two different positions. He starts as an actor in the role of a bard who at Penelope's court retraces the exploits of Ulysses (singing the song several times in the film: «A war. A man. A deception. A deception to demolish the walls of Troy and reduce it to ashes amid the screams of its inhabitants»). In the closing credits, however, he returns to the role of rapper, featuring with James Blake (and the production of Ludwig Göransson who took care of the entire soundtrack) for the unreleased When I'm Homefor which the rapper directed the video which will be released soon.
Not only an actor, rapper, but also a director. In fact, the anecdote has it that Scott showed up for filming well in advance, even when not necessary, to shadow Nolan and try to steal as much information as possible about his way of working and directing: «Chris is an extraordinary director. I was just happy to be there and watch him.”
