John Leguizamo on ‘The Odyssey,’ Non-Traditional Casting and Being Uninvited From ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

John Leguizamo, the veteran stage and screen actor and leading activist for Latino representation in Hollywood, who is currently garnering career-best notices and Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Eumaeus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, is our guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, which was recorded in front of an audience of students at Chapman University.

Over the course of 42 years in the business, Leguizamo has worked with everyone. He has been directed by Brian De Palma, Spike Lee, Baz Luhrmann and Jon Favreau multiple times, as well as by Mike Nichols, George A. Romero, Ridley Scott, Todd Haynes, M. Night Shyamalan, Ava DuVernay and Christopher Nolan. And he has shared the screen with the likes of Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, Wesley Snipes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert De Niro, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Kidman, Kevin Hart, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Matt Damon.

In the movies, he has starred in blockbuster studio franchises (Ice Age and John Wick), revered indies (Poison and Chef) and cult classics (Super Mario Bros. and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar). On TV, he has been on hit network shows (ER) and acclaimed limited series (Waco and When They See Us). And on the stage, he has written and starred in six acclaimed one-man shows. Between them all, he has accumulated an Emmy Award and a special Tony Award, as well as Golden Globe and Critics Choice award nominations.

But Leguizamo has never received an Oscar nomination — something that might well change as a result of his latest turn as the blind loyal servant of Odysseus in The Odyssey, which has been described by The Hollywood Reporter as “a delicate, moving, heartbreaking performance… that emerges as the heartbeat of the film” and by the Wall Street Journal as “the performance of his career.”

Over the course of this episode, the youthful 66-year-old reflected on his journey from Bogotá to Jackson Heights to Hollywood, and how his discovery of comedy and acting saved; how he managed to make early inroads into the business, despite the reluctance of people to cast Latinos as anything other than stereotypes; and why he hated working on ER, loved being part of the Ice Age series and Encanto, and was invited to play the villain Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming — before being uninvited.

He also went deep on The Odyssey: why it meant so much to him that Nolan decided to employ non-traditional casting for the film; how he prepared to play a blind and elderly man; what it was like acting in the first film shot entirely with IMAX cameras; how he processed seeing the film — and his performance — for the first time; plus more.

Here are his thoughts on a few assorted matters…

On the trans character that he played in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar…

“I shouldn’t be playing it today. Yeah, no, it’s not fair. There’s plenty of great LGBTQIA actors out there that could play these roles and should be playing these roles. But that was back then, that was the ’90s.”

On who can play which roles in 2026…

“In a fair world, which it never is, everybody should be able to play anything. But the thing is that nobody gets to play anything except white cisgender males. They were never casting disabled actors ever. And now directors that I know, friends of mine, make it a mandatory thing to cast one disabled actor, to create a role for them. How great is that for them? They wouldn’t cast gay actors, even in gay roles they wouldn’t, that’s the way it was. In Latin roles, a lot of white actors were taking Latin roles in brownface for the longest time, since Touch of Evil with Charlton Heston in brownface with the black mustache. It was crazy. So I think, in this moment of correction, and perhaps it’s an overcorrection, it’s important that we cast the people who are written as the role and give them the opportunities. I really believe that. And then maybe eventually, when things are fair, then everybody can play everything all over again.”

On Nolan’s decision to employ nontraditional casting for The Odyssey…

“Now that ancient story that’s so powerful to Western literature belongs to everyone, and how beautiful is that? How generous is that? How open and inviting is that, to have Lupita Nyong’o play twins, Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy, and Travis Scott be the bard, and Corey Hawkins be Polybus, one of the evil suitors?”

On being uninvited from 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming…

“They offered me Spider-Man, the Vulture, and then the head of the studio called me, ‘Oh, John, this is really terrible.’ We had already negotiated. We had accepted terms. I hadn’t signed a contract, but we had accepted terms. It was pretty far along negotiations. And she said, ‘We’d like the role back. Michael Keaton wants it back.’ And I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?” I’ve never heard of such a crazy thing.’ I could have sued, but my reps are all cowards. It could [also] backfire. I mean, I’m not a litigious person anyway. That’s not who I am. I’d rather move on and create my own stuff.”