05/11/2024
Despite the fact that Ethan Coen described "The Odyssey" as "one of my favorite storyline schemes" neither of the Coen brothers had read the epic and were only familiar with its content through adaptations and numerous references to the Odyssey in popular culture. According to the brothers, Tim Blake Nelson (who has a degree in classics from Brown University) was the only person on the set of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000) who had read "The Odyssey."
"'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' was this role that utterly fell into my lap and changed my life. I was making 'O' (2001) as a director and Joel (Coen) sent me the script along with a letter saying that he wanted me to read it and get some advice from me. And I thought, well maybe he wants to talk about the transposition from 'The Odyssey' to this Depression-era story. Me, because I was a classics major, I read it, and then he offered me the role of Delmar and I was so surprised that I actually said that I needed a day to think about it because Joel and I were already friends and what I didn't want to do was get on set without even auditioning for this role and disappoint him because he'd never heard me utter a word of the dialogue. And so I said let me make sure that I'm not going to disappoint you, let me try this on for a few days. I quickly got off the phone and started figuring out in a very casual and shallow way an approach to the role and figured that I had an in. And I said I would do it and subsequently had one of the great summers of my life. This was like going to film school. On that movie I think I worked 51 out of 54 days of the shoot and I got to be around these absolute masters of the craft, which so interests me. And they're so completely true to their own aesthetic and so confident in it that as an actor you just feel that there's no way you can go wrong so you can try anything. So really nothing you can do is wrong in an environment that allows that much risk taking. For gargoyle actors like me who happen to be their favorite type of actors - George Clooney and Brad Pitt aside-that makes for an experience like none other."
Nelson's actual singing voice is heard during "In The Jailhouse Now." (IMDb)
Happy Birthday, Tim Blake Nelson!
