Elliot Page wasn't playing Achilles after all as 'The Odyssey' reveals his real role

Page portrays Sinon, a figure connected to the fall of Troy whose deception makes the Trojan Horse strategy possible

Months of online speculation surrounding Elliot Page's role in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey have finally been put to rest, with the film revealing that the actor does not play Achilles after all.

Instead, Page portrays Sinon, a pivotal figure connected to the fall of Troy whose deception ultimately makes the legendary Trojan Horse strategy possible.

Before the film's release, social media had widely circulated claims that Page had been cast as the Greek warrior Achilles, fuelling criticism from some corners of the internet. However, those rumours proved to be entirely unfounded once audiences saw Nolan's epic.

In Greek mythology, Sinon is not a character from Homer's Odyssey itself but from Virgil's Aeneid. He is a Greek soldier who deliberately allows himself to be captured by the Trojans before convincing them that the enormous wooden horse left outside their city is a sacred offering that should be brought within the walls. His lie paves the way for the hidden Greek warriors inside the horse to emerge under cover of darkness and capture Troy.

Nolan's adaptation opens by incorporating the Trojan Horse sequence into Odysseus' story, giving Sinon a much larger role than many viewers expected and making him one of the key catalysts for the events that haunt Odysseus throughout the film.

The revelation also debunks one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the blockbuster's casting. While Lupita Nyong'o does portray Helen of Troy, Page's role was never Achilles, despite months of online speculation and criticism directed at the production before its release. 

Christopher Nolan has dismissed the pre-release controversy, arguing that criticism from people who had not yet seen the film was ultimately irrelevant. Following its release, The Odyssey has instead been dominated by strong reviews and a record-breaking box office debut.

Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, the ensemble cast also includes Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Charlize Theron as Calypso and John Leguizamo as Eumaeus. By revealing Page as Sinon rather than Achilles, Nolan's film closes one of the internet's longest-running casting debates and highlights the importance of the Trojan Horse deception in setting the epic's story in motion.