Why Christopher Nolan Cast Travis Scott in The Odyssey 

The Odyssey isn’t Travis Scott’s first verse.

But it does mark a significant leap in his acting career. And for director Christopher Nolan, it was the “Sicko Mode” rapper’s musical background that led to his role as a bard in the upcoming movie.

“I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry,” Nolan explained to Time in an interview published May 12, “which is analogous to rap.” 

While Scott—who shares kids Stormi, 8, and Aire, 4, with ex Kylie Jenner—hasn’t said much about his appearance in the new film, he did have a scene-stealing moment in a trailer for The Odyssey released in January. In it, he silences a rowdy mess hall to tell Telemachus (Tom Holland) a story about his father Odysseus (Matt Damon). 

“A war, a man, a trick—a trick to break the walls of Troy,” he booms, alongside images of the Trojan War. “It burning, screaming to the ground.”