Christopher Nolan’s Crew Broke into Applause After Samantha Morton’s Take. The Last Time That Happened Was Heath Ledger’s Joker

08 Jul 2026, 18:45 · Thought Catalog

Shane Anthony Sinclair / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Updated 20 minutes ago, July 8, 2026

Nolan cast Morton as the goddess Circe in “The Odyssey,” his IMAX adaptation of Homer’s epic, out July 17. After one of her takes, the crew stopped shooting and gave her a round of applause. His producer and wife, Emma Thomas, remembered the only other time it had happened: Heath Ledger, filming the Joker for “The Dark Knight,” nearly 20 years earlier.

Her screen time is limited, but Nolan calls Circe the fulcrum the whole film lived or died on. She was, he said, exactly the actor he’d pictured the moment he finished the script.

Samantha Morton at the London photocall for “The Odyssey” at the IET Building: Savoy Place on July 5, 2026. Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair / Getty Images.

A film crew applauding a take is not a normal thing. These are professionals who have seen everything, and they don’t stop a shoot to clap.

Samantha Morton at The Odyssey photocall, held at the IET Building: Savoy Place in London on July 5, 2026. Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair / Getty Images.

Morton is a two-time Oscar nominee, for “Sweet and Lowdown” and “In America.” Wider audiences know her as Agatha in “Minority Report” and Alpha on “The Walking Dead.” Early reviews of “The Odyssey” single her out anyway. Time Out called her extraordinary. The Independent wrote that she steals the show with the few scenes she’s in.

Samantha Morton at The Odyssey London photocall on July 5, 2026. Photo by Tim P. Whitby / Getty Images.

“The Odyssey” opens July 17. The last time a Nolan set stopped to applaud, the performance won an Oscar. Morton has a handful of scenes to make it two.

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