Samantha Morton says she has not landed an acting job in the year since finishing work on Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” despite drawing some of the strongest reviews of her career for playing the sorceress Circe. The 49-year-old actress made the admission Monday on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, pointing to her age and a shifting industry landscape rather than any shortage of talent.
“I haven’t worked for a year since making ‘The Odyssey,'” Morton said, noting she has “really good agents and a manager” but still finds herself competing in a business that has changed considerably. She added that she believes herself a capable actor working alongside many other capable actors, framing the dry spell as a symptom of an industry recalibrating who gets cast and why. Morton said she recently had to build a new demo reel, reasoning that younger casting directors and filmmakers may not know her earlier work.
The gap stands in contrast to the reception her performance has received. Variety singled out Morton as the standout among “The Odyssey” ensemble cast, and awards commentators have floated her as a potential Oscar contender. Morton told Variety earlier this year that she cried when Nolan called to offer her the role, recalling that he could have cast anyone and chose her instead, and that opportunities on that scale become rarer for actresses as they age.
Morton also revisited a more painful chapter from earlier in her career: her removal from Spike Jonze’s “Her” after production had already wrapped. She had recorded the voice of Samantha, the artificial intelligence character who becomes Joaquin Phoenix’s love interest, before the role was recast with Scarlett Johansson in post-production. Morton said she understood the creative reasoning, praising Johansson’s voice as evocative, but acknowledged the experience left her hurt. She said she wished she had gotten another chance in the recording booth to adjust her American accent before losing the part.
Despite the setbacks, Morton expressed confidence she will keep working for decades, citing persistence and craft as the forces that sustain a career through industry cycles. She has several projects lined up, including the thriller “Love and War” and Amazon’s crime series “Dirty” alongside Phoebe Dynevor.
