Somebody Hire Samantha Morton!

I think we can all agree that one of the best parts of The Odyssey was Samantha Morton as Circe. That entire scene was a masterclass in practical effects, body horror, and thematic subversion, and it was anchored by the sinfully underrated Morton. You really leave that film wishing there was more of Circe, or that she could headline her own film (an adaptation of the Madeline Miller novel, perhaps?)

Morton is still on the promotional trail for The Odyssey, and it’s likely we’ll see her during awards season. But amid this moment of success, she’s been candid about the realities of being a jobbing actor. During an appearance on the podcast Happy Sad Confused, she admitted to host Josh Horowitz that she’s been unemployed since the movie wrapped shooting.

“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. 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.”

Hollywood ageism sucks, right? Morton is a two-time Oscar nominee who has worked with Spielberg, Lynne Ramsay, Darren Aronofsky, and Charlie Kaufman. She was on The Walking Dead and has headlined a number of TV series. Surely, it’s meant to be easier than this? But the business has never been kind to women over 35, and the offerings for “older women” are thin on the ground unless you’re one of maybe six big stars and you still look 20 years younger.

But it’s also a period of flux in the industry. Media monopolies are crushing productions. Fewer films are being made. A lot of stuff has gone non-union. The mid-budget film is all but dead. Streaming services mean that royalties have been shredded. And AI… well, we know all about that mess. As we saw from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, jobbing creatives have been hit hard and the concept of the working-class actor is dying out. It’s nepo babies all the way down. Morton is a working-class performer who came from nothing and was raised in the foster care system. The system does not exist to help non-rich and unconnected talents anymore.

“I think that life and art have a really bizarre way of intertwining and what’s for you won’t pass you,” she added. “But sometimes it’s hard to know that in the time, because there have been times when things haven’t worked out and I’ve been very sad both creatively and financially because I have three children and a mortgage and [a] life.”

I’m sure things will be good for Morton in the future. She has one upcoming movie, Ruben Ostland’s The Entertainment System is Down, and having Christopher Nolan telling anyone who will listen that the crew did a standing ovation after shooting your scenes is the kind of publicity that money can’t buy. Someone give her the leading role she deserves!