The Odyssey: Zendaya Says Tom Holland Helped Her Casting

Zendaya entered a state of euphoria when she was cast in The Odyssey.

But before she took on the role of the Greek goddess Athena, she admitted she “kind of cheated a little bit” because her husband Tom Holland had already been cast as Odysseus’ son Telemachus.

“Tom had the script at home before I got the call,” Zendaya told Justin Sylvester during the Live from E! Stream at The Odyssey premiere in New York City July 14. “So, I did a little peeky peek.”

And the 29-year-old found director Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic poem—also starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o and hitting theaters July 17—to be “extraordinary” and “so moving.”

“You would think a piece of literature like this is almost impossible to adapt,” she continued, “but if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s Mr. Nolan.”

Before she was offered her role, Zendaya previously described how she and Tom—who confirmed last month that the pair had, indeed, tied the knot recently—reacted to his casting in the Oppenheimer director’s latest project.