{"id":6950,"date":"2026-07-25T20:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=6950"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:31:13","slug":"christopher-nolan-reveals-the-only-actor-since-heath-ledger-to-get-a-standing-ovation-on-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/07\/25\/christopher-nolan-reveals-the-only-actor-since-heath-ledger-to-get-a-standing-ovation-on-set\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Nolan reveals the only actor since Heath Ledger to get a standing ovation on set"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Nolan<\/a> has revealed there’s only one actor who’s managed to get the exact same reaction from his film crew as Heath Ledger in almost 20 years, and it happened while filming The Odyssey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Universal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, Nolan said the cast member left everyone on set so blown away that the crew broke into spontaneous applause. According to the director, it’s only the second time he’s ever seen that happen across his entire career.<\/p>\n

The actor in question was Samantha Morton, who plays the goddess Circe in The Odyssey. Even though she isn’t on screen for long, Nolan said her role ended up being one of the film’s most important.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Universal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis was a massive film and she is someone who comes in and changes the dynamic,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cIn some weird way, the film lived or died over that character. She was the fulcrum. I\u2019ve always admired Samantha\u2019s work, she brings so much depth of thinking about her role, there are no limitations on her performance.<\/p>\n

“After one of her takes, the crew gave her a great round of applause. I was talking with Emma [Thomas, Nolan\u2019s producing partner and wife]<\/span> afterwards and she remembered that the last time that had happened was with Heath Ledger on The Dark Knight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Universal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Considering Heath Ledger’s Joker is widely seen as one of the greatest performances in modern cinema, that’s a pretty huge compliment.<\/p>\n

Nolan also explained why he filled The Odyssey with such a ridiculously star-studded cast. Rather than casting famous names just for the sake of it, he said he felt larger-than-life mythological characters needed equally iconic actors to bring them to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are mythological figures, iconic in some ways. I wanted to cast it big, get the finest bunch of actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, <\/span><\/i>like our Facebook page<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Featured image credit: Univeral\/Justin Ng\/Pool\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It happened during filming for The Odyssey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[269,251],"coauthors":[27],"class_list":["post-6950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explained","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-the-odyssey"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChristopher Nolan reveals actors that get standing ovations on set<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christopher Nolan reveals the only actor since Heath Ledger to get a standing ovation, and it was on The Odyssey set.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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