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CHARLESTON — “The Odyssey” conquered the box office this weekend, and a South Carolina-born actor was part of the crew that brought the highly anticipated summer blockbuster to life.
The Christopher Nolan film, based on the epic poem by Homer, has a star-studded cast with actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter Matt Damon leading the way as the eponymous Odysseus. Anne Hathaway stars alongside him as his wife Queen Penelope, while Tom Holland plays his son Telemachus.
Rounding out the ensemble, Charleston native Logan Marshall-Green plays the villainous role of Melanthius, a slave and servant of Hathaway’s queen. The actor, who spoke to The Post and Courier on July 21, said he was humbled to be a part of the “incredible experience.”
Born in Columbia, Marshall-Green grew up on Sullivan’s Island and, up until earlier this year, lived on James Island with his partner.
When “The Odyssey” hit theaters and everyone clamored to see the film in its intended IMAX, the actor instead gave a shout-out to the local Terrace Theater, encouraging people to patronize the small business, too.
“Hey y'all, it's Logan Marshall-Green. Charleston native, James Island native, Terrace Theater native,” he said in an Instagram post July 19. “Look, I got a film there. It's a small little independent I shot last year called 'The Odyssey.' You should come see it. Go to Terrace Theater, have that Terrace Theater experience we all love.”
Paul Brown, owner of Terrace, said Marshall-Green has long been a supporter of the indie theater. He and the actor worked together on a short film called "Summerville 1970" around the time Marshall-Green was filming "The Odyssey," and the two have kept in touch, he said.
Brown said the actor is well loved in the Charleston area, and he experienced the community's support firsthand when he went to see the film on July 19.
“Logan came on screen, and people went, ‘Hey Logan!’” he said.
More than 2,000 people went to Terrace Theater to see the blockbuster during opening weekend, Brown added.
Overall, the nearly-three-hour epic opened to a massive $124.5 million in North American theaters, according to studio estimates released by Rentrak on July 19.
Loyal to his roots
Marshall-Green has a long history and love of South Carolina. He was born in Columbia in 1976 to teacher parents who divorced around the time he and his twin brother were born.
“We moved to Charleston very quickly and lived on Sullivan’s Island where my mom and her sister took care of me,” he said. “We lived on a little shack on Sullivan’s Island … I mean, this was really, truly a white, just rectangle shack.”
Marshall-Logan said he and his aunt actually visited the island in March to find his childhood home, and he thinks they did. Only now, he admitted, it’s been built up on each side as most Sullivan’s homes are these days.
The actor moved around a bit, later raised in Rhode Island by his mother, Lowry Marshall, who has since passed away. She taught theater at Brown University and inspired the actor.
Throughout his life, he’s always came back to visit Charleston, especially having family still in the area. Years ago, he and his partner moved back to James Island.
“My favorite place to go is CudaCo.,” he said. “I love that rice bowl and I love that outdoor space and sitting by the swamp and the estuary there. It’s just a beautiful meal and a beautiful location. There’s no frills about it, so I like it.”
An ‘overnight sensation’
Beyond his role in “The Odyssey,” Marshall-Logan is best known for his film performances in Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus,” the acclaimed sci-fi film “Upgrade” and as a villain in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Many might also recognize him most recently as Pete Calvin in the “Yellowstone” spin-off “Marshals” or from one of his earliest TV roles playing Trey Atwood on “The O.C.”
“He’s been a good working actor for years, and he’s getting his overnight sensation," Brown said of Marshall-Green’s latest role.
"The Odyssey" retells one of the oldest and most influential stories ever by Homer, who composed the epic sometime in the late 8th or early 7th century, B.C.
After the Trojan War, Odysseus spends 10 years struggling to return home to Ithaca, facing monsters, gods and countless dangers that test his courage and intelligence. When he finally reaches his destination, he must defeat the men trying to take his throne and reunite with his wife, Penelope.
Marshall-Logan admitted he almost missed playing the part of Melanthius — but had made his peace with it. He initially got a callback in January 2025, but turned down the role because the timing wasn't right. In particular, he had several friends who were impacted by California wildfires. He opted to stay stateside to support them rather than travel overseas for filming.
“As much as I want an experience and working with great directors, no matter who he or she is, I always want to be true to myself,” he said. “It was a very tough time for a lot of people that I knew, and it was a tough call, but it was the right one.”
Marshall-Green said not only did he never expect to be called back for “The Odyssey” — he didn’t think he’d ever hear from Christopher Nolan and his team again about any of their projects.
"It wasn't just saying no to a callback," Marshall-Green said, adding that he knew his decision meant potentially saying no for good to Nolan and his wife, producer Emma Thomas, as well as casting director John Papsadera.
Filming was notoriously challenging for the actors, who filmed for 19 months in various locations, and Marshall-Green admitted much of the work was out of his comfort zone.
“You want to perform, you want to produce Chris’s vision for him … and he only gets the most incredible artists,” he said.
While Marshall-Green said there was no specific training, a lot of planning went into the film’s climactic fight scenes, in which he teamed up again with Holland.
“We were fighting with all different types of weapons in that scene, so we had to do a lot of work to make it just kind of dance with it.”
“The Odyssey” set a new record for Nolan as the director’s biggest opening weekend at the domestic box office for any of his films that aren't sequels, meaning the largest outside of his "Dark Knight" trilogy. That record was previously held by "Oppenheimer," which launched with $82.5 million domestically in 2023.
As for Marshall-Green’s upcoming projects, he’s currently in Utah filming season two of “Marshals” alongside Luke Grimes, Arielle Kebbel and Gil Birmingham, and is in post-production for the creature feature “Beware Boiuna” set to hit the screen around Halloween.
The actor teased he’s set to star in a new Netflix series as well, and to be on the lookout for announcements.
In the meantime, you can catch Marshall-Green’s indie film, “Adopt a Highway” starring Ethan Hawke on Hulu.
USA TODAY NETWORK contributed to this report.
