People baffled to find out where they really know The Odyssey actor from
The film on everybody's lips right now, The Odyssey, unleashes one of the most surprising casting choices in a long while.
Now playing in cinemas, Oscar-winning writer-director Christopher Nolan has unquestionably won the war of the summer blockbusters (sorry, Steven Spielberg) with his adaptation of Homer's epic poem.
At the time of writing, The Odyssey's box office receipts amount to almost $350 million (£262m) after just one week of global screenings, so there's a strong likeliness that it'll reach a billion across the theatrical window.
Starring Matt Damon as the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, this sprawling fantasy adventure chronicles his 10-year journey home after masterminding the fall of Troy.
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On his quest back to Ithaca, where wife Penelope (played by Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) desperately await his presence, Odysseus and his comrades encounter all manner of mystical and mythical foes, including a man-eating Cyclops, the witch Circe, Calypso the nymph and ferocious Laestrygonians.
Holding down the fort with his family is a blind character named Eumaeus too, brought to life by John Leguizamo.
Having been mesmerised by all 173 minutes of the thing, fans are now realising where they recognise scene-stealer Leguizamo from.
One tweet read: "The Odyssey was f**king amazing yes but there was one scene where John Leguizamo yelled something and all I heard was Sid from Ice Age and I had to stop myself from laughing hard as f**k in the theater."
Meanwhile, another viewer was left stunned by the revelation, writing: "John Leguizamo is Sid the sloth?? My life just changed."
Yep, the guy who gave us a Eumaeus full of soul is the same man who voiced the speech-impeded ground sloth Sid across a whole raft of animated Ice Age films.
Leguizamo's other notable credits include Violent Night, Romeo + Juliet, The Happening, Bloodline, The Lincoln Lawyer, Assault on Precinct 13 and next year's The Exorcist: Martyrs.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 66-year-old veteran revealed that he couldn't see on the set of Nolan's latest project, due to the eyeball-clouding lenses he had fitted.
"Not being able to see for 12 to 14 hours a day, like I couldn't see my phone, I couldn't read, I couldn't call," he said.
"My other eye wasn't clear either. I could not see. I had to be taken to the bathroom, I had to be brought back. I had to be taken to eat.
"When I was alone, I just had to be inside my head because that's all I had. Too much time with my own thoughts. It's a dangerous thing."
The Odyssey: Origins of the ancient poem and the filming locations
Written: Between 725 BC and 675 BC, so more than 2,500 years ago
Based on a true story? Mostly no (Cyclopses aren't real). Historians are unsure if the Trojan War really happened
Who wrote The Odyssey? Homer, but historians don't know much about him and debate if he is a single person or a group of poets
How long is the movie? 2hrs, 52mins - best go to the loo beforehand
Where was the movie filmed? The Hellenic Film Commission explained Nolan and co filmed at several locations in the Peloponnese, including Nestor’s Cave, Voidokilia Beach and Almyrolaka Beach, which are all on the island of Pylos; Methoni Castle, at a port town of the same name in southwestern Greece; and Acrocorinth, a monolith overlooking the ancient city of Corinth.
According to Vogue, filming also took place in Morocco, in Marrakech, Tahanaoute, El Haouz, Essaouira and Ouarzazate. The cast and crew were also spotted on the Sicilian island of Favignana, while they filmed in Iceland for the underworld scenes.
Continuing their whistlestop tour of Europe, the Odyssey team also filmed in Scotland, along the Moray Firth Coast and at Findlater Castle and Culbin Forest.
The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm vs normal cinema screens: Helpfully, the film's website shows different versions of the trailer in six different formats, all with different aspect ratios. You can see the difference between IMAX 70mm (warning you now, there are only three IMAX 70mm screens in the whole of the UK) and the standard 35mm format.
The Odyssey is in cinemas now.
Topics: Christopher Nolan, Film, Matt Damon, Celebrity
Dan Seddon