The countdown to July 17, 2026, is officially on, and the hype for Christopher Nolan’s $250 million mythic IMAX epic The Odyssey has reached terminal velocity. While the trailers have given us a gritty look at Matt Damon’s grueling, decade-long voyage home through monsters and mythological nightmares, a massive portion of the film’s emotional and political warfare is happening right back on dry land.

In a brilliant new exclusive interview with Empire Online, Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway broke down her role as Penelope, the Queen of Ithaca. And if you thought this was going to be a traditional, passive portrayal of a grieving wife quietly weeping over a loom, Hathaway is here to set the record straight.

The Ithaca Cold War: Facing Dangers of Her Own

Make no mistake: just because Penelope doesn’t go toe-to-toe with a Cyclops, alluring Sirens, or murderous Laestrygonians in The Odyssey, doesn’t mean she’s not facing terrifying dangers of her own.

Stationed back home in the palace of Ithaca, she is tasked with ensuring the throne isn’t violently usurped by an entirely different breed of monster: a house full of arrogant, power-hungry suitors. Chief among these nefarious types is Robert Pattinson’s scheming Antinous, a sleazy political shark looking to take the crown by any means necessary.

Because the estimated arrival time of her husband Odysseus (Matt Damon) is years away, Penelope has to rely entirely on her own razor-sharp intellect to survive. For Hathaway, holding strong in the unshakeable belief that her husband will eventually return made Penelope a fascinating psychological powerhouse to inhabit.

“There’s a way to think about her that she is just kind of passively, quietly waiting. But I didn’t see her like that. I saw her as this incredible, active, ride-or-die partner. I wanted her to have a sense of danger to her. That she’s not doing this out of a sense of duty — she genuinely loves [Odysseus] with her whole fiery soul.”

— Anne Hathaway to Empire Online

Part of Penelope’s desperate, brilliant plan to stall the coup is a sneaky bit of late-night subterfuge. She tells the rowdy suitors that she will finally choose one of them to marry as soon as she finishes weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus’s aging father. The catch? She secretly unpicks her daytime hard work stitch by stitch every single night, successfully buying herself more time.

Funnily enough, tackling one of literature’s most famous stalls required the Hollywood superstar to pick up an entirely new physical skill set.

  • The Reality Check: “I’m not known for my craft work,” laughs Hathaway, reflecting on getting to grips with the ancient, complex mechanics of a loom.
  • The Training: Production brought in a professional textiles teacher to get the actress completely up to speed.
  • The Practice: “We practiced on a makeshift loom. And then I got some time to practice on the big one that was on set. It was lovely,” she says. “There’s something so rhythmic about it.”

By the time the IMAX 70mm cameras started rolling, Hathaway was a total natural with the equipment. And as it turns out, any minor technical mistakes she made while weaving actually fit the narrative flawlessly.