Anne Hathaway's Penelope only performs the traditional image of modest, patient passivity for the suitors as a calculated front to protect her son and Ithaca while waiting for Odysseus, showing resilience that matches his own journey.

12:23>> slightly passive qualities >> slightly passive qualities and but really what Anne has discovered is that she's displaying that to the people because if she doesn't, she will lose the war and the suitors will take over. She's really putting up this front >> Yeah. >> to try and protect her son, to protect Ithaca and hopefully to wait for Odysseus to come home and something that I love that Anne developed with

12:46with Ellen, our amazing costume designer, is that she's always wearing really rich ruby tone clothes. >> That amazing necklace she's got. >> beautiful necklace. She always has her hair really done and it is to tell the audience that she still believes that today could be the day that he comes home. >> But also it's conveying her power as a queen I guess as well. >> Yeah, and it's displaying that like the

13:08resilience that Odysseus shows throughout the film to make it home is the same as the the resilience that she shows at home keeping those suitors at bay, protecting her son and waiting for her husband. Like the way we've been describing it is it's like it's like having a 20-year home invasion of these awful men >> Yes. >> just >> Yes. >> destroying your home >> Eating all your food.

13:32>> Yeah. >> Drinking all your drink. Yeah, terrible. So So you So So you are you know you're you're being you're very put upon by the suitors, these jocks who are kind of kicking sand in your face as it were. And so you go off to mainland Greece to meet with Menelaus >> Mhm. >> the the brother of Agamemnon whose wife Helen had been abducted by the Trojans.

13:54And this is basically what the Trojan War is for. And Menelaus has now come back to his his native city of Sparta with Helen. Um and Menelaus is normally played as a a bit of a wimp. I mean he's the kind of the cuckold, the guy who's who's been humiliated by Paris stealing his wife. I thought that he was almost the most terrifying figure in the film, almost more terrifying than

14:21the Cyclops. And the Cyclops is pretty terrifying. >> Because he He was in um The Walking Dead, wasn't he? >> Yes, of course. Yeah. >> And and he plays Menelaus as a very very frightening man. How did that feel acting opposite him? >> I've known John since I was 17 years old and we are very good friends. And I was so delighted that we got to share that