Samantha Morton’s Confession About Struggling To Find Work After “The Odyssey” Has Reignited A Conversation About Hollywood’s “Youth Obsession,” And It’s Super Sad

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Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is stacked full of incredible performances, but, for many viewers and critics alike, Samantha Morton is a clear standout.

Samantha plays the goddess of magic, Circe, a powerful sorceress capable of transforming humans into animals. I won't go into too much detail in case you've not watched the film yet, but one particular scene with Circe has sent Samantha to the top of people's Oscar predictions lists. In fact, Variety ranked Samantha's performance as the best in the entire cast — above both Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway — calling her "nothing short of extraordinary" and the "clear MVP" of the movie.

So, despite this and the fact that she's already been a two-time Oscar nominee, Samantha recently confessed that it's taken a while to line up her next acting job.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Samantha was asked by host Josh Horowitz what the positive reaction to her performance means to her, to which she said, "Hope and faith, that, I suppose, if you keep at it, and you keep producing good work, and that the right people see it, then maybe you can carry on working."

"I haven’t worked for a year since making The Odyssey, you know, and I’ve got really good agents and a manager, but at the end of the day, I’m 49," she continued. "I do believe I’m a good actor, [but] there are other good actors out there. Do you know what I mean? So, the politics of the industry has changed massively."

Samantha, of course, would not be the first woman in Hollywood to call out the lack of diverse and interesting roles for women over 40, especially when you compare it with the array of different opportunities for male actors of that age and older. However, she said she feels "confident" that she'll keep working as an actor well into her 80s, and that she believes everything happens for a reason.

Samantha's comments have reignited a conversation about ageism against women in Hollywood, with one Reddit user writing: "Wish actresses had the same opportunities as their male counterparts as they age."

"Casting directors really act like it's illegal to hire any woman who might be within spitting distance of perimenopause," another user wrote. "You either have to be a hot young starlet or elderly. It's actually impossible to just be a normal, human adult woman."

"It’s weird because I feel like once women are above 60 or so, they get [cast] as grand dames, matriarchs, etc. Maybe? But it’s really the middle-aged crowd that gets woefully overlooked. It’s sad," another user suggested.

Calling out Hollywood's "youth obsession," someone else wrote in support of Samantha: "When I watched her part of The Odyssey, I got excited about seeing her in more things coming up because surely everyone would see and remember how amazing a performer she is. I literally said to my cousin that I’d watch a whole spinoff movie/series of her character played by her. We’re deprived of some incredible performances just because the women aren’t 18 anymore. Pisses me TF off."

Someone suggested Hollywood should make a John Wick-esque film series starring "women around and over the age of 50, doing badass shit to shit-tier men, wreaking havoc." And honestly, I'm here for it.

Let's hope that Samantha's brilliant work in The Odyssey opens some more doors for her — and maybe a third Oscar nomination, too. You can find her full appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast here.

Some Reddit comments were edited slightly for length or clarity.

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