Whoopi Goldberg defends Elliot Page’s casting in The Odyssey
Whoopi Goldberg has stepped forward to defend the casting of Elliot Page in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, delivering a pointed and characteristically direct response to the wave of criticism that has been directed at the actor since the film’s release.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of The View, Goldberg addressed the backlash head-on after a clip was played of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro describing Page’s role as an “absolute puzzler” and taking aim at the actor’s appearance and voice. Goldberg’s response was blunt and unapologetic.
“A lot of conservatives who see this are going to feel the same way. That’s okay,” she said. “But I don’t understand. Why go see the movie? If you don’t want to see it, don’t go see it. Why do you care who’s cast in it?”
She continued: “I don’t understand this idea that if we hate it, everybody must hate it because we hate it for this reason. You don’t like Elliot Page? Don’t go see the damn movie. Don’t do it. We will be okay if you don’t go see it.”
Page, who is trans, plays Sinon in the film, a cousin of Matt Damon’s Odysseus. The casting drew significant online criticism, some of it amplified after Elon Musk weighed in on social media, initially claiming incorrectly that Page would be playing the warrior Achilles. Despite the inaccuracy being pointed out, the backlash continued and widened.
Page is not the only cast member to have faced criticism over their casting. Lupita Nyong’o, who plays both Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra in the film, has also been subjected to racially charged criticism over her dual role, highlighting a pattern of commentary around the film’s diverse ensemble that goes well beyond questions of artistic interpretation.
Fellow View panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin also pushed back on the criticism during the segment, arguing that the film’s themes of family, faith and the consequences of war are broad and universal enough to resonate across different audiences, including those who had voiced objections before seeing the film.
What the controversy has not managed to do is dent the film’s commercial performance. The Odyssey opened in theatres on July 17 and crossed $300 million worldwide within days, making it one of the biggest releases of Christopher Nolan’s career and one of the year’s most significant box office events so far.
For Goldberg, the message was simple: the film exists, it is performing, and those who object to its casting choices have every right to stay away. What they do not have, in her view, is the right to demand that everyone else feels the same.
